Welsh Tory call to ‘appalling record’ Drakeford for A&E ‘winter war rooms’
Welsh Conservatives are urging the First Minister, who they accuse of having an “appalling record in managing the NHS,” to follow England plans to set up NHS ‘war rooms’ to tackle A&E pressures.
NHS England is to establish ‘war room’ centres to provide information on bed capacity in hospitals and care homes; if one hospital becomes particularly busy, staff at the control centre can divert ambulances to different emergency departments.
The call follows what Welsh Tories have now described as “an outburst” from the First Minister last week as he “aimed to distract from his appalling record in managing the NHS through a vitriolic tantrum” at First Minister’s Questions.
Last week, Mark Drakeford’s voice trembled with emotion as he erupted at Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies over his criticism of the Welsh NHS.
Andrew RT Davies had quoted a member of the public who had said that Wales was like a “third-world country” when it came to healthcare.
He was later described by Tories as being in a “fit of fury” and having a “shameful lack of remorse” over “failings in the Welsh NHS”.
Welsh Conservative Shadow Health Minister Russell George MS said: “The NHS in facing a very tough time across the UK, but we know that England are doing far better than Wales on several fronts – from treatment waiting lists, A&E waits, and ambulance delays – so it is only right that we look at what works elsewhere.
“These plans make the most of technology and smarter ways of working to ensure emergency services work as best as possible for patients and staff – they should be seriously considered as a means to prevent winter pressures and long-term Labour mismanagement overwhelming the NHS.
“Labour should not let patients and staff to fester in a system that does not work for them just because they don’t want to copy England.
“That attitude has meant no surgical hubs have been set up in Wales, which has left 60,000 people waiting over two years for treatment.
“Labour need to get a grip on the NHS and stop breaking all the wrong records.”
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Is the tory ms, aware that its the tories in London that are causing all these problems, they are withholding billions of £££s from Wales, no wonder England might have better figures, they control the money, they make the rules. Independence can’t come soon enough.
His local general hospital is either Shrewsbury or Telford and the police are still investigating over 200 infant deaths there. If his voters wish to avoid that they can use Worcester which had 27 ambulances containing patients parked outside A&E when I was up there last month. They count things differently in NHS England and direct comparisons can be misleading. Wales NHS is in a poor state but living on the Marches we see what England is really like. It isn’t good. Forgot to add, the idea in England is to place patients on trolleys in corridors to release ambulances… Read more »
I know it’s a bit subjective but, I’ve got no complaints about our nhs, after recently finding a lump, I’ve had an MRI, spoken to a specialist unit in Morriston and been given my results, all in about 3 weeks.
I should have said, the mri was in Neville Hall, the specialist is in Morriston hospital and I live in Powys,
Tories liken everything to “war” don’t they? WWII was the only event where the entire “Union” could be persuaded to wave the tricolour sphincter flag as much as Tories would like. It’s also when nearly ALL their membership were children and remember fondly when their parents were off fighting, or making loads off arms dealing and the black market.
Yes, we need to keep reminding these Tory folk that the funding shortage for the NHS in Wales is a shameful direct Tory Government policy, as is the failure to honour the promises of the Tory Brextremists about the full replacement of lost EU funding.
Welsh Labour & Mark Drakeford deserve criticism when it’s due. After all they’ve are running our Welsh NHS for 22 years. But what I can’t tolerate are the Welsh Conservatives who negate any Whitehall culpability, who cynically omit that Brexit or cuts to the Welsh block has had an adverse effect with its running. Less they forget. Their new soon-to-be PM Rishy Sunak as chancellor squandered £37 billion with the failed Covid track & trace app. £16 billion with furlough & Covid schemes fraud and billions more with faulty unusable PPE that had to be burnt. And yes the waste… Read more »
Russell who? Never heard of him!
After the patient in the diverted ambulance is released from the a&e miles away from their local hospital at 2 o clock in the morning and told they have got to find their own way home wearing nightclothes perhaps they can phone Russel George to pick them up and run them home