As many of you may have seen, the latest NHS statistics were released a couple of weeks ago and they continue to make for some grim reading.
They show that NHS treatment waiting lists remain at almost 800,000 pathways, with 15,000 people in Wales on a waiting list for two years. This is in stark contrast to the 161 across the whole of England.
When she was the Health Minister, the current First Minister promised to eliminate these waits by March 2023 and then again in March 2024, but she has clearly failed to meet these targets.
There has been another target set for reducing the number of two year waits to 8,000 by this March, but this will require a drop of 48%.
I am pleased there has been some progress in reducing two-year waits, but the simple truth is that they should never have been allowed to get so high in the first place.
Our ambulance times across Wales have also worsened when it comes to the 8-minute target for the most urgent of calls.
Unfortunately, we hear far too often of harrowing stories in the news, from friends or relatives, having to wait far too long for an appointment or ambulance. This is certainly not the fault of our doctors, nurses and healthcare staff, who do an excellent job; this is down to systemic failure.
The Welsh Labour Government is ultimately responsible for the management of our health service, and the truth of the matter is that it’s clearly struggling to do so.
Over the next year, we are likely to hear more pledges and promises to reduce the burden on our NHS by Labour Ministers, but the fact is that Labour have been in control of our NHS for 26 years in Wales, and it is under their watch that it’s been run it into the ground.
In stark contrast to the Labour Government, the Welsh Conservatives have a plan to tackle the crisis in our NHS.
Only through removing restrictions on cross-border, cross-community and cross-sector capacity sharing can we see the reduction that the people of Wales so desperately need.
We also have proposed a long-term workforce plan to ensure that our NHS has the staff that it needs to provide the best possible care.
Peter Fox MS - Monmouth
