Part of 1. 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:40 pm on 26 September 2017.
Thank you, Presiding Officer. First Minister, last week, the Welsh Government presented its waiting list figures for the Welsh NHS, and the figures showed that, in Wales, one in seven people is on a waiting list, or 450,000 people. In England, that figure is one in 14. There are pressures across the United Kingdom when it comes to NHS services, and everyone acknowledges that. As we go into the busy winter months, and with the financial pressures that are on the Welsh NHS, with four of the seven health boards projecting a deficit in excess of £30 million, what help is your Government giving to health boards to address the spiralling numbers that are waiting on waiting lists here in Wales and, above all, the financial predicament that many LHBs face?