Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:34 pm on 11 October 2022.
Thank you. I will ask the Minister for Economy to bring forward a written statement on enterprise zones. In relation to orthopaedic services and waiting times, I think you will have heard both the First Minister and the Minister for Health and Social Services say that orthopaedic waiting times are not where we want them to be, like other waiting times. Significant additional funding has been given to reducing orthopaedic waiting times—I think it's over £170 million now, recurrently—to help address that backlog. We are now seeing waiting times reducing, but, as I say, not at the pace that we would want to. The health Minister did hold an orthopaedic summit back in August, to make sure that health boards were aware of what was needed to bring an improvement in this area of the health service. A national orthopaedic strategy has also been developed, and we're funding the development of an orthopaedic network.