Part of 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 2:44 pm on 17 October 2018.
A rather glib response, I must say, in terms of me inviting a cut in health and social care budgets. My question is: are you in control of what happens to that increase, which I welcome, if it is an actual increase, if it is investment? Now, the danger, of course, is that it's a fire-fighting fund. We've seen it time and time again—£100 million here, £200 million there, in order to plug gaps. Where you have a fire-fighting fund, you have £500 million that won't address, for example, chronic underinvestment in primary care. It won't form part of creating long-term sustainability. So, let me invite you to spread this investment and make sure that this investment works. Yes, you say it's for social care as well as health, but, in looking at where in health to put that money, will you commit, if you're in control, to instructing the health boards to give, say, half to primary care so we can start at last to build a sustainable service?