Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:48 pm on 8 October 2019.
First Minister, these figures refer to non-clinical reasons. That's why they've been cancelled, First Minister. You need to get your facts right. You can spin it as much as you like, because, clearly, you and your Government are failing to run the health service here in Wales, you're failing to run north Wales's health boards, and even this morning, it was concerning to hear that your Government is struggling to get Cwm Taf maternity services out of special measures as well. And I hope this isn't another Betsi Cadwaladr in the making, where your Minister allows another health board to languish for years, failing the people that it's meant to serve.
Now, on the cancelled operations, First Minister, Dr Phil Banfield, chairman of the Welsh British Medical Association consultants committee, believes that the Welsh NHS has, and I quote, an
'insufficient capacity to cope with current demand…Continued under-funding, huge rota gaps and too few staff to provide adequate care'.
Those are his words. And I can hear the health Minister chuntering from a sedentary position. Those are his words. He goes on to say that the human cost of this is an increase in
'anxiety and distress…for patients and their families' and for Welsh
'NHS staff trying their best to deliver high quality care'.
First Minister, what do you say to Dr Banfield and his colleagues and what will your Government do to deliver a Welsh NHS that is fit for the people of Wales?