1. What assessment has the First Minister made of improvements to hospital waiting times since he became First Minister? OAQ52698

Well, I'm pleased the Member acknowledges the improvement. I recognise there is more to do, which is why we have invested an additional £30 million this year to build on the progress made over the last two years and to reduce waiting times further by March 2019.

Thank you for that answer, First Minister. I'm sure you'd like to make that inference from my question, but, in your final speech to the Labour conference as First Minister, you made great play of saying that what you have achieved in Wales shows what Labour can do when in power. Perhaps you were caught up in your demob happiness, but you forgot to mention that, since becoming First Minister, the percentage of people waiting longer than four hours in accident and emergency has got worse, the number of newly diagnosed cancer patients starting treatment within the 30-day target has got worse, the number of urgent-route cancer patients starting treatment within the target 62 days has got worse, and the number of patients waiting longer than 26 weeks for treatment has also got worse. So, First Minister, don't you think that, rather than your record being a cause for celebration at what Labour can do for the UK, it's actually a stark warning of what Labour will do to the UK, given the opportunity?

Well, the number of people waiting over 36 weeks in July was 31 per cent lower than July of last year—52 per cent lower than the high point of August 2015. We expect continued improvement this year. The median waiting time in Wales has reduced from 10.9 weeks in September 2017 to 8.9 weeks in July of this year. We also continue to show significant improvements in diagnostic waits; performance continues to improve, even with the additional diagnostic test being reported from April 2018, with the number waiting over eight weeks at the end of July being 24 per cent lower than in July last year, and 82 per cent lower than the high of January 2014. Now, I could go on with more figures that show the improvement, but one thing I can say to her is that a Labour Government in Westminster would ensure that there are sufficient resources made available for the Welsh Government and also sufficient resources to turn around the dire performance of the NHS in England.

I'd like to just talk about the NHS in Wales—I didn't realise you were responsible for the one in England as well. Your figures do sound absolutely superb, First Minister, and I don't quarrel with the improvements, where the improvements are. However, of course, those improvements aren't universal. As you know, the £50 million that was given last year, a chunk of it had to be recouped, because health boards didn't meet the targets that they were set by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services, to achieve those reductions in those key areas; another £30 million this year. How confident are you that that will be able to be spent wisely by the health boards, and how can you evidence that those who didn't spend it well last year and had to have it snatched back will be able to do something useful with it this year, to continue to make sure that reductions in waiting times, where they are seen, are universal and not just in pockets throughout Wales?

Well, that can be done through the development of the boards' three-year integrated medium-term plans. They are providing detailed capacity and demand profiles for this year, and they are required to show clear trajectories as to how they plan to continue to reduce waiting times for diagnostics and for treatment. In the longer term, of course, we do recognise the need to transform the way services are delivered, and that's why we've set up a £100 million fund to develop new ways of working.

First Minister, one of my constituents reported seeing 15 ambulances queuing outside a north Wales emergency department not long ago. This is the health board still under special measures, still under your Government's watch. That is 15 ambulances not available to help those desperately needing help elsewhere. This now seems to be the norm. What is your Government doing to address this situation in the north Wales region, and when will we finally see the impact of your special measures?

I don't know where she's talking about, and, without any more details, it's difficult to comment. What I can say to her, of course, is we've seen, month on month, sustained improvements in ambulance response times. I can tell her that, in August, there were 89,419 attendances at Welsh accident and emergency departments. That's an average of 2,884 attendances per day. The vast majority of patients continue to receive timely care. And, in August, 80 per cent of patients were admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours. There are of course times when A&E is busier than other times of year, and indeed other times in the week, but we see from the ambulance response times, and, of course, the performance in A&E, that the vast majority of people get treatment when they need it, at an appropriate time.