<p>Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople</p>

Part of 2. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Well-being and Sport – in the Senedd at 2:39 pm on 15 June 2016.

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Photo of Rhun ap Iorwerth Rhun ap Iorwerth Plaid Cymru 2:39, 15 June 2016

(Translated)

What the improvement does demonstrate, of course, is that effort pays off and that we should never accept that budgetary limitations or increases in demand will inevitably lead to longer waiting times. As I said, MRI scans were given some press coverage a few years ago; there are other diagnostic tests that aren’t as headline grabbing, perhaps, where there are major problems that remain, for example, colonoscopy or cystoscopy. Performance in those areas is as poor now as it was two years ago, with around half of patients waiting over six weeks, as compared to 6 per cent in England and 12 per cent in Scotland. The equipment is cheaper for these tests, there is less demand for them and some GP surgeries can actually do the tests themselves. Apart from waiting for newspaper headlines, what will make you give the same attention to colonoscopy and cystoscopy tests as you gave to MRIs?