Plaid Cymru to lead debate calling for NHS reform to tackle long waits

Emily Price

Plaid Cymru will lead a debate in the Senedd this afternoon calling for the Welsh Government to honour NHS commitments made by the last three First Ministers.

Former FMs Mark Drakeford and Vaughan Gething both made promises to tackle long waiting lists which now stand at a record breaking high in Wales.

In an interview with Politics Wales at the weekend, the newly installed First Minister Eluned Morgan sparked a row with health bosses after saying she would hold them to account on getting long waits down.

Speaking on the BBC programme she said: “I think it’s important that we put the pressure on those people who are managing the NHS, who are paid significant sums of money.

“The chief executives of our health boards are paid a quarter of a million pounds a year. Let’s get them to be more accountable for the money that the taxpayers are giving them.

“There are examples where people have really brought down these numbers in some places and in others they are simply not delivering the way they should.”

All three of the Welsh Government’s most recent First Ministers have previous served in the Cabinet as health minsters.

Demand

There are currently over 600,000 patients waiting for treatment in Wales with 23,418 waiting more than two years.

The newest figures show that levels have risen for the fifth month in a row.

The Welsh Government says the NHS has faced “unprecedented levels of demand” which built up during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Plaid Cymru says that NHS reform is the only way to tackle long waiting lists.

Speaking ahead of the debate on Wednesday (September 18), the party’s spokesperson for health, Mabon ap Gwynfor said: “Labour lost control of the NHS a long time ago yet continues to blame everyone else for its own failings.

“With a staggering 600,000 people on waiting lists in Wales – the highest on record – it’s clear that Labour cannot keep doing the same things over and over and expect different results. If the NHS is to live for another 75 years, it needs reforming.

“Yet the First Minister has made it clear that reforms aren’t on the cards until waiting lists come down. The First Minister this week blamed health board bosses for these failures despite managing the health portfolio until very recently.

“She has also blamed the people of Wales for their health conditions, and blaming patients for turning up to A&E. It seems that it is always someone else’s fault while this Labour Government refuses to take any responsibility.

He added: “While Labour in Wales bury their heads in the sand at the scale of the challenge, Labour in England have at least recognised the issues facing the NHS in England.

“Plaid Cymru is clear about the bold action required to put the NHS back on its feet.

“We need to be investing properly in the preventative agenda to keep people out of hospital, just as we need to tackle the deep-rooted issues of staff retention, harness technological innovations to bring care closer to home, invest and modernise the NHS estate and secure a fair funding deal for Wales from Westminster.

“Labour have been in charge of the NHS for 25 years. It’s time for a fresh start and a government of new ideas, that only Plaid Cymru offers.”

Motion

A Welsh Government spokesperson said the newest Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Jeremy Miles, will offer his response in the Senedd later today.

The motion which will be debated on Wednesday reads:

To propose that the Senedd:

1) Notes that the First Minister and her predecessors have prioritised cutting waiting lists in the NHS.

2) Regrets that:

a) the latest NHS performance statistics show that waiting lists in Wales are at a record high; and

b) the UK Labour Government’s decision to embrace austerity policies, such as cutting back the winter fuel payment, are intensifying the pressure on the NHS.

3) Calls on the Welsh Government to urgently review its plan to reduce waiting lists and to honour the commitment made by past First Ministers and the current First Minister.