2. Will the First Minister make a statement on the performance of the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board? OAQ(5)0432(FM)

Yes. The health board has maintained good performance in some key areas, including cancer, ambulance performance, and stroke. And, since being put in special measures, they have virtually eliminated diagnostic waits of over eight weeks. But, performance in some other areas is not what we would expect, and the Cabinet Secretary has made his expectations clear.

Well, the Cabinet Secretary needs to do more than making his expectations clear. This is a health board that is in special measures, and yet, at the Glan Clwyd Hospital, at the moment, the routine waiting time for orthopaedic surgery is 112 weeks. That’s more than four times the Government’s 26-week target. What specific action is your Government taking, given that this health board is in special measures, to address this particular problem with orthopaedic waiting times, across north Wales and, in particular, at Glan Clwyd Hospital?

Well, an additional locum hand surgeon has been appointed in Glan Clwyd, to reduce waits in this area. Some activity will be outsourced to alternative providers. We will continue to enhance the musculoskeletal clinical teams, including the focus on physiotherapy. So, yes, there has been the appointment of an extra surgeon, and we believe—and expect—that the waiting lists will now come down.

There is concern in the Colwyn Bay area that a surgery is closing. Other surgeries are under pressure and three of these surgeries, if truth be told, have only one GP. It is an area where the minor injuries unit in Hesketh Road has been closed for some years. The area’s population is also older than the average, and there are hundreds of homes now being built as a result of the local development plan. Would you agree with me that such a situation is unsustainable and can you tell us what you are doing to assist the local health board to meet the significantly enhanced demand? The demand is up but the provision, of course, is going down.

Well, of course, we have seen examples where the surgeries have said that they no longer wish to remain open. However, the health board then establishes a system in order to ensure that the service is available. Prestatyn is an example of that, where the service is better now than it was previously with the surgeries. So, there’s a responsibility on the health boards to ensure that the service continues and that it is broader and better.

First Minister, I read an article about the state of the north Wales health board, specifically about hip operations, and it claimed that some patients in north Wales are waiting two years for such operations. Compared to what’s going on in England, it’s quite disgraceful. We’re waiting a year and a half longer than is recommended. Now, I myself have been waiting—[Interruption.] Sorry—Llywydd.

Can the Member be heard, please?

I am ever so sorry, but this is a very serious matter. I myself have been waiting 30 weeks to have my own hip looked at. I am on painkillers, which my doctor, when he handed them to me, said that it said on the box, ‘If you take these for more than three days, you will become addicted to them’. I asked my doctor about that, and he said, ‘Your choice is that you suffer the pain or you take them’. Now, people waiting for hip operations can get very depressed from the constant pain—I know this for myself—and they can be taking painkillers that lead to all kinds of side effects. Why is it that, in Wales—and north Wales, specifically—we have to wait up to two years for these operations? This really is not good enough. What are you going to do about that?

Well, I’m surprised that that is the advice that the GP has given to him with regard to a drug; a drug has been prescribed that is said to be addictive after three days. I mean, if that’s correct, then I’m surprised that that is the advice that he’s been given by his own GP.

But, dealing with the issue that he’s raised, it is right to say that waiting times are too long in some parts of the north of Wales—that much is conceded. But, nevertheless, as I’ve outlined already and as the Cabinet Secretary has outlined, there are steps that are being taken in order to address the situation, including, of course, having an extra hand surgeon at Glan Clwyd, and making sure that alternative providers are available to patients as quickly as possible in order for operations to carry on.