At First Minister’s Questions today, the Leader of the Welsh Conservatives challenged the First Minister on the state of the NHS in Wales.
Following 27 years of Labour control, often propped up by Plaid Cymru, Mr Millar said the health service has been in managed decline, leaving hospitals across Wales overcrowded, under-resourced and crumbling.
In West Wales, cuts to emergency surgery and stroke services at Withybush and Bronglais are forcing patients to travel further for life-threatening care. In North Wales, almost 70% of Glan Clwyd Hospital patients wait over four hours in emergency, with a third waiting more than 12 hours. Promised expansions at Royal Alexandra Hospital, Rhyl have been scaled back, and even at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, staff and patients face dilapidated conditions, including sewage leaks and infestations.
Commenting, Leader of the Welsh Conservatives, Darren Millar MS said:
“After twenty-seven years of mismanagement and Labour budget deals with Plaid and the Lib Dems, the Welsh NHS estate is quite literally crumbling.
“From Withybush to Glan Clwyd and even the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, patients are facing delays, understaffed wards, and hospitals in disrepair.
“The Welsh Government must step in now and intervene to stop these reckless cuts to emergency surgery and stroke services in West Wales before lives are jeopardised, and it must deliver the new hospital that was originally promised to the people of North Denbighshire.
“Only the Welsh Conservatives have a clear and credible plan to declare a health emergency, restore NHS performance, cut waiting times and ensure people across Wales get the timely care they deserve.”
Watch Darren’s contribution in the Welsh Parliament below:
