I want to start this week referring to the awful floods caused by Storm Christoph last week, which have sadly had a devastating impact on many properties across our corner of the country. The damage caused to people’s homes really is heart-breaking and the stress, upset and anger, unimaginable.

Following the floods the First Minister announced that up to £1000 of support will be available through the Welsh Government for properties impacted by the flooding. This will be administered by Flintshire County Council and as soon as details on how to apply are released, I will share them through my Facebook page – Hannah Blythyn MS.

On Saturday I visited Ffynnongroyw which was badly impacted by the flooding, alongside local Councillor, Glyn Banks. This gave me the opportunity to see the damage first-hand, and hear the experiences of the community.

Councillor Banks and I want to do all we can to prevent these horrible events from happening again in the future. We are in touch with a range of authorities, including Network Rail and Dwr Cymru Welsh Water, about what happened and what can be done to prevent further flooding. I am also in contact with the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths, about next steps. We will do our best to keep the community as updated as possible.

The weekend also saw a milestone achieved for North Wales, as data for Betsi Cadwaladr UHB showed that over 61,000 people had been vaccinated. Despite floods, snow, and delayed supplies, our NHS staff and volunteers are working extremely hard to deliver the biggest vaccination programme our country has ever seen.

With more and more people in the priority groups being vaccinated, the health board understands that there are anxieties from those within the groups who have not been contacted yet. They will shortly begin published the progress within the priority groups, so that people can have a better idea of when they may be contacted, based on how many people are left to be vaccinated in the priority group before them.

Betsi has also advised me that they will be setting up a telephone line to answer queries about the vaccination programme, as well as a regularly updated Frequently Asked Question section on their website. Once I have these details I will of course share them, but in the meantime you can find a Q&A section on the vaccination programme on my website – www.hannahblythyn.cymru.

I was also made aware of some issues with vaccination in Flint, mainly due to delayed supplies of the vaccines reaching GP surgeries. I have been advised that these issues have been over come, but if you or a loved one are in the over 80s priority group, and have not been offered an appointment, please get in touch on the details below.

This week plans were announced for the redevelopment of the Flint Community Hospital site, with proposals being shared for a 60 bed social care provision, run by Flintshire County Council.

As plans progress, I am keen to ensure that “step up and step down” provision is also returned for the people of Flint. I am also committed to working with the health board and others to identify what further services could potentially be provided from the Flint Health and Wellbeing Centre in the future.

I will be doing everything I can to work with Betsi Cadwaladr UHB, Flintshire County Council and all other partners to make sure the community’s voice is heard so together we can shape the future of health and social care, delivering the services the community deserves.

As ever if I can be of any help to you or your loved ones, please email me at Hannah.Blythyn@senedd.wales or call my office on 01352 762102.