The COVID-19 pandemic has proved beyond doubt that good health is the cornerstone to our society. COVID has caused so much grief and loss and no aspect of our lives remain untouched. Like I’ve said before, the NHS is an organisation we can all be proud of. But the Welsh Government is failing to produce a plan that targets the ever growing waiting lists in Wales. The Welsh Government spends £2,402 per head, more than England and Scotland, but has the third worst performance figures. One in four patients are waiting over 52 weeks for treatment, and 64,000 have been waiting two years. Something must be seriously wrong. As a result of this, pressure is growing on NHS staff and patient care is suffering, and there is a sense the NHS is losing the battle to deliver the standard of care people deserve. 

Three weeks after I had my COVID vaccination in February 2021, I began suffering with severe anterior chest pain. After speaking to 999, I was advised to take four aspirin whilst waiting for the paramedics. After a period of time, my wife phoned, again, 999, and the paramedics arrived 40 minutes later. I was taken to the Heath hospital where I received excellent care for five days. After returning home for three weeks, I again began experiencing severe abdominal pain, which was when I was taken to the hospital, and I spent another 10 days in the intensive care units. I was fortunate enough to make a full recovery, and the kind of treatment and care I was fortunate enough to receive in the Princess of Wales Hospital and the Heath should be given to everybody. Unfortunately, this is not the case, and many others will have dire experiences.

After another recent stay in hospital, I, like many others, have experienced the challenge facing NHS Wales. The surgery I went through this time should have been performed in six months; instead, it took six more months after postponing four times, twice after admission and once on the day I was supposed to be going to the theatre—instead I was discharged home. These cancellations can and will have consequences for patients' well-being.

There is a sense that the NHS is fighting a losing battle to deliver the standard of care patients deserve. The widespread view is that the NHS is in a sorry state. However, this is not always based on personal experience, as I had. During my stay, I witnessed people on trolleys and chairs because of a lack of capacity in assessment wards, staff talking to patients with little regard or compassion and, all too often, patients had little idea who they were talking to. We obviously have a long way to go to achieve the high standards we strive to meet.

In A&E it is well documented that patient waiting times are extraordinary. Only 65 per cent of patients are seen within the target of four hours—the lowest on record. Due to a service that lacks the capacity to meet demand, some have waited days to receive treatment in a chair due to no beds being available. Some have experienced communication difficulties, with staff members who appear to ignore their concerns and medical history, which is vital to their treatment and prognosis. They all call themselves practitioners. In addition, some staff with dark blue uniform, and they look and act like a sheriff or a marshal, who remind people to behave, or else. These staff obviously forget their ethics and the patient's human rights. 

After a serious fall whilst exercising during the pandemic, a lady needed treatment at the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend. She had broken several bones. In obvious pain, she waited six hours with limited pain relief, and was then sent home as there was no doctor available. We all know this is a difficult time for our NHS, but even before the pandemic, NHS Wales had been struggling. There has been little progress over 20 years, since the Welsh Government came into being. Change is long overdue and is vital to make NHS Wales fit for purpose. [Interruption.] I'm sorry. It will take me—. It's been 70 years; history can talk. Give me one or two minutes more, sir.