Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 2:02 pm on 24 February 2021.
Thank you. This follows on, really, from my colleague Angela Burns and the concerns around what's happening with regard to treatment. So, I've been liaising with the chief executive of Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. Earlier this month, she sent me a letter that stated, and I quote,
'with the small volume of elective surgery that we've been able to perform over the past 12 months, waiting times have increased considerably'.
I was writing to her about a constituent who'd been waiting a long time in immense pain. She said one consultant, Mr Ganapathi, now has more than 450 patients waiting for treatment, and, according to the chief exec, over 350 of these have waited longer than my constituent who—just listen to this—was referred for double knee replacement in November 2017, long before our pandemic, Minister. So, whilst acknowledging the pressure caused by COVID-19 and welcoming the news that a new post-anaesthesia care unit has opened at Ysbyty Gwynedd, the evidence is clear that orthopaedic treatment is in crisis here in north Wales. So, please advise what steps you are taking to help facilitate more day-case and in-patient surgery, and whether consideration can be given to increasing the health board's partnership with English trusts, and coming to an arrangement with more than just two, for patients to be offered their surgery outside of this health board. Thank you.