Part of 1. 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:42 pm on 26 September 2017.
You’re quite right, First Minister; you and I could trade statistics, and the gallery upstairs and those watching on TV would just get bamboozled by those statistics, but the figures do show that, in Wales, for example, there’s been a 400 per cent increase in people waiting 12 months or more for a surgical procedure. In the best health board, Cwm Taf Local Health Board, no-one waits 12 months or more. In the worst, or one of the worst, Betsi Cadwaladr University Local Health Board, which is under the direct control of your Government, there’s been a 1,250 per cent increase in people waiting 12 months or more. So, it is the role of Government to make sure that good practice is spread out in the NHS here in Wales. So, why is someone in Betsi waiting so much longer for a procedure than someone in Cwm Taf? We only have seven health boards; surely, that good practice should be spilling out into all the health boards so that people do not see these spiralling waiting times here in Wales.