6. Will the First Minister outline the Welsh Government’s priorities for the NHS? OAQ(5)0045(FM)

Yes, they’re set out in our manifesto.

Thank you very much indeed, First Minister. One of the commitments that you gave during the election period was that within 100 days you would consult on whether the Betsi Cadwaladr university health board ought to be divided into two or more health organisations. Have you abandoned that commitment or are we going to see a proposal come forward from your new Government?

We’ve not abandoned the commitment to consult people on the future structure of the health service in the north, no; that commitment remains in place.

Among Plaid Cymru’s priorities in this Assembly will be pressing for real measures to tackle recruitment within the health service, as is reflected in the post-election compact. But will the First Minister acknowledge, along with me, in the meantime, the contribution made by health professionals from the European Union to dealing with the recruitment problem that we have in the health service at present, and the threat to that from the campaign to leave the European Union?

The Member is right to say that medicine and nursing is a global market; people travel the world with the qualifications that they have, and, of course, there are a number of nurses and doctors working in the NHS in Wales who come from other European Union countries or outwith the European Union, for example, the nurses in the hospital in Bridgend who come from the Philippines, very many of them. Without those people, we wouldn’t have a health service in Wales, nor in the rest of the United Kingdom either. So, it’s extremely important that no obstacles are placed in their way to stop them from coming to Wales or the rest of the United Kingdom, because it will the patients that will suffer.

First Minister, I received a letter from one of my constituents who is a health worker who’s been working in the NHS for 19 years. He expresses his concerns about the Betsi Cadwaladr health board. He says the service is floundering for lack of strategic direction and he goes on to say the effect of this means that individuals are now burnt out and stepping aside or looking for early retirement. What is the Welsh Government going to do to fix this situation and to deliver the health service that the people of north Wales deserve?

I think the Member’s comments would have been fair at one time; I don’t think they’re fair now. We obviously put Betsi Cadwaladr into special measures. We know that there were problems—

They’re not my comments; they’re a constituent’s comments.

I take what the Member says. I don’t think the comments are correct now. We put Betsi Cadwaladr into special measures. We have seen significant improvements—ambulance times, for example, were one thing—in terms of the delivery of services in the area. And rightly so because it was quite clear to us at the time that the local health board was not delivering as it should—certainly it wasn’t communicating with people as it should. The situation now I believe has improved markedly. But, nevertheless, it’s important to take on board the comments of those who work in the health service in order to make sure that every possibility for improvement is being taken.