Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:48 pm on 20 September 2022.
I take from your answer, First Minister, that we do not have dedicated surgical hubs here in Wales. I appreciate that you identified three, I think it was, hospitals there that have areas identified for specialist surgery, but they wouldn't fall under the criteria of surgical hubs. Is it your Government's ambition that, should people find themselves on a waiting list for a considerable period, it should be able to actually offer a second offer, so that they could go to an alternative establishment and have that procedure undertaken, as happens in other parts of the United Kingdom?
Indeed, previous Welsh Governments have made this available to people who have found themselves, in their own locality, having inordinate waits placed on their procedures, which, as I said, does give a cost-of-pain crisis to that individual, whether that be emotional, whether that be a monetary loss, because they are unable to work, or whether that be a whole host of other issues that compound that individual's ability to get on with life. Would it be the Welsh Government's ambition to create a second-offer scheme that would allow patients to access that ability, where those facilities exist, so that they could get that procedure done in a timely manner?