‘26 Years of Labour Failure’: Peter Fox MS Urges Monmouthshire to Declare NHS Health Emergency

Member of the Senedd for Monmouth, Peter Fox urges council to declare NHS health emergency as crisis deepens across Wales

Peter Fox, Conservative MS for Monmouth, has today written to the Leader of Monmouthshire Council, calling on them to declare a health emergency, following similar moves by Denbighshire and Conwy councils.

The call comes amid growing concern about the state of NHS services across Wales, with waiting times, A&E pressures and ambulance delays now among the worst on record.

Two councils have already recognised the scale of the problem. Denbighshire councillors heard disturbing accounts of patients lying on A&E floors without basic dignity, while Conwy Council recently also declared a health emergency, citing unsustainable pressure on health and social care services.

Local MS for Monmouth, Peter Fox, has said:

“After 26 years of Labour running the NHS in Wales, the system is letting people down. We have longer waiting lists than England, worse A&E performance, and heartbreaking stories of people waiting hours for ambulances or being sent home without the care they need.

“Latest figures show that just under 7,000 people in Wales are waiting more than two years for treatment, making patients in Wales hundreds of times more likely to face extreme delays than those in England. A&E performance is at its worst level for three years, and ambulance response times continue to cause alarm across the country.

“The Welsh Government talks about funding increases, but the reality is very different. Once inflation and the impact of higher National Insurance costs on NHS wage bills are taken into account, this is a real-terms cut to frontline services.

“Only the Welsh Conservatives have a plan to Fix Wales and our Welsh NHS, by declaring a health emergency, ensuring it’s properly funded and managed, so that patients get the treatment they need."