‘No NHS in 75 years without urgent and drastic action’ Plaid Cymru warns
Plaid Cymru has predicted there will be no NHS in 75 years without “urgent and drastic action”.
The warning comes as the NHS celebrates its 75th anniversary today (5 July 2023) amid a backdrop of record waiting times.
NHS staff in Wales have also been forced to take industrial action over pay and conditions – some for the first time ever – earlier this year.
Paying tribute to the NHS and its founding principle of providing health free at the point of need to all who need it, Plaid Cymru’s Health and Social Care spokesperson Mabon ap Gwynfor said that “thirteen years of Tory cuts and twenty-four years of Labour mismanagement” had left the service on “life-support”.
The Dwyfor Meirionnydd MS said Plaid Cymru’s five-point plan could help tackle the crisis in the NHS in Wales – offering both immediate and longer-term solutions including tackling waiting times, investing in social care, and implementing a workforce plan to recruit and retain more doctors and nurses.
Proud
“Seventy-five years ago, the NHS was born in Wales – leading the way in providing healthcare to all free at the point of need,” Mr ap Gwynfor said.
“Plaid Cymru is immensely proud of our NHS and the dedicated frontline staff who have provided invaluable service and care for the past 75 years. They are the backbone of our healthcare system – without them there is no NHS.
“But thirteen years of Tory cuts and twenty-four years of Labour mismanagement has left it on life-support, with poorer health outcomes and a burnt-out workforce.
“Waiting times are at record levels. Health boards are stuck in special measures. Staff and patients are at breaking point. Our NHS won’t survive another seventy-five years without urgent and drastic action.
“Plaid Cymru has a vision for a better NHS.
“We would prioritise providing a fair pay deal for NHS workers and implement a workforce plan to recruit and retain more doctors and nurses by making our NHS an attractive place to work.
“We would prioritise preventative health measures and ensure a seamless move from health to social care to tackle waiting times.
“We would restore trust between patients and our NHS by putting an end to chronic mismanagement.
“Together, we can rebuild our NHS, making it fit for purpose: a fairer, stronger and better health and social care system in Wales, free at the point of need to all who need it – from the cradle to the grave.
Support our Nation today
For the price of a cup of coffee a month you can help us create an independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by the people of Wales.
The way things are going at present the NHS will be gone in 25 not 75 years. Top loading it with pen pushers and regulatory officials who add nothing, indeed detract from the effort of keeping people alive and well is not a formula for success. We are already at the rationing stage with people having to compete for an early morning phone call to see a G.P. Get past that point and it’s often a long and windy road to final stages by which point conditions have deteriorated and need far more expensive interventions than had the matter been… Read more »
It’s easy and cheap to talk rubbish about there being too many non-medical staff, but someone has to deal with regulatory process and also everyday administration, and here the NHS is actually very efficient – only around 3% of NHS funding is spent on administration, as opposed to something nearer 20% in the US healthcare system. Sure, there are inefficiencies in the NHS, simply because it doesn’t have the slack in terms of finance and staffing to be able to deal with that. The biggest trouble faced by the NHS is that it is a political football constantly plagued by… Read more »
75 months if Sunak and Hunt remain in post…
Either we accept that we have to put much more money into the NHS and social care (and yes pay higher taxes) or we move to a different funding model, such as that in Germany.
No amount of “reform” or easy rhetoric about too many “pen pushers”, will overcome the problems of our unhealthy population, ageing population and the health and social care funding gap compared with other western countries. We need an honest debate. But in a country where the NHS is a religion we are not likely to get one.
As long as you don’t mention the NHS’ archaic admin…
Yu are right on!!! The NH\S is so politicised that we can’t have a reasoned debate, it’s either those wicked Tories or the even more wicked pen pushers.
You ae right. An unhealthy and aging population and a growing need for social care as opposed to health care needs to addressed
Maybe its time to think about a system where people pay…
The growth in admin functions has far surpassed any value they add to organisational performance. If they ever accelerated or improved service levels I would sit back and shut up. However most of the evidence suggests that they slow things down, inhibit performance and add unnecessary costs. In a political climate where recruiting droves of E,D &I directors, managers and support staff is seen as necessary I don’t think for a moment that there will be any roll back. Therefore the onus should be placed on the Service to show how all these appointments add value. Elsewhere in the managerial… Read more »
Stop regurgitating Tory/Daily Mail propaganda!
https://www.nhsconfed.org/long-reads/nhs-overmanaged
I don’t know how long these threads last, but I’m not going to let this pass.
Why is it that any problem in Wales has to be fault of them wicked Tories or the Daily Mail.
Perhaps Padi might profit from being reminded that the nhs in Wales is the responsibility of a Labour government and has been for twenty five years.
A serious and meaningful debate on the future of health services in Wales is desperately needed. Put aside myopic propaganda and think things through!
Firstly any drastic action shouldn’t mean the privatisation of our Welsh NHS through the backdoor as seen with NHS in England where millions are spent paying for private agency nurses to the detriment of NHS staff. Imagine the scenario where you are working in an already stressful environment with the knowledge that your agency worker colleague earns hundreds of pounds a day more than you for doing the same job. How demoralising. And you also have the reficulous situation in England thanks to the Conservatives where they gave contracts to private companies who charge hundreds of pounds to replace lightbulbs… Read more »
After Wittgenstein you are my favourite Existentialist…
Very well said, Y Cymro – people need to start thinking straight– About life styles, e.g. this overeating of junk food disorder that many folk seem to have. It’s crazy! About a different kind of system without its slavish devotion to the money god. As for the NHS itself – it is our Treasure chest. We lose it to the Yanks at our peril. Plaid Cymru have the right idea. We seem to have lost sight of the original concept that Nye Bevan and others laid down. And today groups like We Own It should be supported wholeheartedly to bring… Read more »
A good example of money going to the wrong people, when we can not afford pay rises for NHS staff is, the £37 billion for a test and trace app that disappeared among friends and family of Tory Gov ministers. The money was there for that, but not for a pay rise.
Not to mention the £55bn + spent on corporate welfare and the huge amounts in uncollected taxes from big corporations and the refusal of all parties to tax the wealth of the elites who derived their fortunes from chattel or wage slavery. Goodness how many billions of QE were squandered on baling out the banking system post the 2008 financial crash from which we still have not recovered – if the banks had been allowed to go bankrupt, (and nationalised at the same time) and certain debts, such as domestic mortgages forgiven and the same sums of QE invested in… Read more »
There’s and Old and very true saying a stich in time saves nine that should be they’r motto and also there are too many chiefs and not enough Indians in the NHS