I've updated the Inpatient Index for the UK nations. It shows that Wales is not discharging patients in the same timescales as the other home nations.

The divergence with Sco is now showing through increasingly clearly, with every passing dayw

Why does this matter?...... https://twitter.com/Gareth_Jenks23/status/1358777417662349312

Well, using "peak inpatients" as a proxy, at Day 16 following peak, Wales has discharged a net 6% of its peak patients, England 23%, NI 16%, Scotland 16%.

If we use NI as a leading indicator, by Day 26 today, Wales is 25% behind the rest.

So what does this mean in practice?....

Well it means that notionally, Wales has an extra 682 persons in hospital today than it should have, if it followed the trend established by the countries representing other 63m population in the UK.

So instead of the 2,097 inpatients it has today, it would only have 1,415.

Some will say that it doesn't matter. Well I'm afraid it does.

Firstly it reinforces that many aspects of the emerging pandemic have political rather than medical overtones at its heart.

Secondly, it gives Drakeford and Gething more ammunition to prolong lockdown......

Wales had peak cases on 17th Dec. The other 3 nations had peak cases on 4th Jan

Wales should be at the front of the queue to reopen society

It looks increasingly it'll be at the back, just as last Summer. Meanwhile poverty and neglect will continue amongst the vulnerable.