Joint response to Coronavirus outbreak across Wales
Welsh national disability organisations raise concerns about the impact on disabled people living with pre-existing medical conditions
Disability Wales, All Wales People First, Wales Council of the Blind, All Wales Parents and Carers Forum, Learning Disability Wales and Mencap Cymru call on the UK and Welsh Governments to act decisively to safeguard the well-being and survival of disabled people and others categorised as being at high risk of contracting the virus in the face of a Covid-19 pandemic. We are extremely concerned that necessary measures to minimise fatalities in these groups are not being taken.
In particular we are concerned that:
- The NHS in both England and Wales is already underfunded and struggling to keep up with demand. This means that in the case of a mass outbreak, NHS workers will not be able to provide adequate care for all patients. Reports from Italy, where the pandemic is in a more advanced stage, are extremely troubling. We note that in Italy some people are already not receiving treatment due to lack of resources. The UK Government and Welsh Government must do everything in their power now to prevent similar decisions being made here at the height of the pandemic.
- For disabled people, much of the advice on how to avoid infection (eg self-isolation, social distancing) is impossible to follow particularly for those who require daily assistance and likewise for people employed as personal assistants (PAs) or care and support workers. The UK Government and Welsh Government must act quickly to offer support both to disabled people who require PAs or care and support workers to provide daily support and also to the PAs and carers themselves.
- Many care and support providers have been financially impacted following 10 years of austerity measures resulting in an overstretched workforce. We are concerned about the quality of care that can be delivered when care workers go into isolation or become sick. Both the UK and Welsh Government must urgently put co-ordinated plans into place on how to respond to a shortage of care workers. In particular, care providers must be given substantial financial support now in order to recruit additional carers and be able to offer these care workers good wages.
Taken together these factors lead us to believe that disabled people are likely to face harm not just through the Coronavirus itself but through the general strain on the health and social care system as well as wider societal barriers. The UK Government has announced £5 billion in emergency funding for public services to alleviate the pressures resulting from the Coronavirus.
As organisations representing the interests of disabled people, we call for urgent support from this fund to ensure social care delivery and provision or accessible information and support is adequately resourced in Wales. We urge both the UK and Welsh Governments to intervene urgently to ensure disabled people are not treated as unavoidable casualties in this pandemic.
Ymateb ar y cyd i’r achosion o Coronafeirws ar draws Cymru
Mae cyrff anabledd cenedlaethol yng Nghymru yn codi pryderon am yr effaith ar bobl anabl sydd yn byw gyda chyflyrau meddygol cynharach
Mae Anabledd Cymru, Pobl yn Gyntaf Cymru Gyfan, Cyngor Deillion Cymru, Fforwm Rhieni a Gofalwyr Cymru Gyfan, Anabledd Dysgu Cymru a Mencap Cymru yn galw ar Lywodraethau’r DU a Chymru i weithredu yn bendant i ddiogelu llesiant a goroesiad pobl anabl ac eraill sydd wedi eu categoreiddio fel bod mewn perygl uchel o ddal y feirws yn wyneb y pandemic Covid-19. Rydym yn hynod o bryderus nad oes mesurau angenrheidiol yn cael eu cymryd i leihau marwolaethau yn y grwpiau yma.
Rydym yn neilltuol o bryderus:
- Mae’r GIG yng Nghymru a Lloegr eisoes wedi’u tangyllido ac yn cael trafferth i ymdopi gyda galw. Mae hyn yn golygu na fydd gweithwyr GIG, pe digwydd achosion lu, yn gallu darparu gofal digonol i bob claf. Mae’r adroddiadau o’r Eidal, lle mae’r pandemig ar gam mwy datblygiedig, yn eithriadol o bryderus. Nodwn nad ydy rhai pobl yn yr Eidal eisoes yn derbyn triniaeth oherwydd diffyg adnoddau. Rhaid i Lywodraethau’r DU a Chymru wneud popeth o fewn eu gallu nawr i atal gwneud penderfyniadau cyffelyb ar uchafbwynt y pandemig.
- I bobl anabl, mae llawer o’r cyngor ar sut i osgo heintio (e.e. hunanynysu, cadw pellter cymdeithasol) yn amhosibl i’w ddilyn yn enwedig i’r rhai sydd angen cymorth dyddiol ac mae’r un mor wir i bobl sydd yn gyflogedig fel cynorthwywyr personol neu weithwyr gofal a chefnogaeth. Rhaid i Lywodraethau’r DU a Chymru weithredu ar frys i gynnig cefnogaeth i bobl anabl sydd angen Cynorthwywyr Personol neu weithwyr gofal a chefnogaeth i ddarparu cymorth dyddiol a hefyd i’r Cynorthwywyr Personol a gofalwyr eu hunain.
- Mae nifer o ddarparwyr gofal a chefnogaeth wedi cael eu heffeithio yn ariannol yn dilyn 10 mlynedd o fesurau cyni gan esgor ar weithlu dan bwysau. Rydym yn bryderus am ansawdd y gofal y gellir ei ddarparu pan fo gweithwyr gofal yn hunanynysu neu yn mynd yn sâl. Rhaid i Lywodraethau’r DU a Chymru greu cynlluniau cydgysylltiedig ar frys ynghylch sut i ymateb i brinder gweithwyr gofal. Rhaid rhoi cefnogaeth ariannol sylweddol nawr yn arbennig i ddarparwyr gofal i recriwtio gweithwyr gofal ychwanegol a gallu cynnig cyflogau da i’r gweithwyr gofal yma.
Gyda’i gilydd mae’r ffactorau yma yn ein harwain i gredu bod pobl anabl yn debygol o wynebu niwed, nid yn unig drwy’r Coronafeirws ei hun ond drwy’r pwysau cyffredinol ar y system iechyd a gofal, yn ogystal â rhwystrau cymdeithasol ehangach. Mae Llywodraeth y DU wedi cyhoeddi cyllid argyfwng o £5 biliwn i wasanaethau cyhoeddus i liniaru’r pwysau oherwydd Coronafeirws.
Fel cyrff sydd yn cynrychioli buddiannau pobl anabl, rydym yn galw am gefnogaeth brys o’r gronfa yma i sicrhau bod darpariaeth gofal cymdeithasol a chefnogaeth yn derbyn adnoddau digonol yng Nghymru. Anogwn Llywodraethau’r DU a Chymru i ymyrryd ar frys i sicrhau nad ydy pobl anabl yn cael eu trin fel colledion anochel yn y pandemig hwn.
