Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:55 pm on 13 September 2016.
I’m of course concerned that Cardiff and Vale are facing targeted intervention and would not want to deny any issues there are, and I know that the health board is very keen to work with the Government to improve the situation. But I do think there are particular circumstances in Cardiff that are having an impact on Cardiff and Vale’s financial performance rather than its clinical performance. I know the Cabinet Secretary is aware that Cardiff is the fastest growing city in the UK, with, I think, 10,000 more in its population a year, and this obviously has a huge impact on the health service, and, of course, the LHB—Cardiff and the Vale—does take on the tertiary and the complex cases from a wide area in Wales and I don’t know how much that is reflected in the funding that it has. I wondered if the Cabinet Secretary could comment on that. I also think it’s important to recognise the big improvements that have been made in performance for the very reason of public reassurance. So, I want to make the point that waiting times in Cardiff and the Vale have improved for seven consecutive quarters; that urgent suspected cancer waiting times have improved by 25 per cent in less than a year; there’ve been big improvements in ambulance handover, and, in particular, in stroke care. I think it’s very important in this statement that we recognise those achievements because we do want the public to be reassured, and the health board is keen to work with the Government to tackle what is a financial issue.