Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:17 pm on 6 December 2022.
Thank you for that response. I want to share with you the experience of a constituent of mine who's a nurse and suffers with carpal tunnel syndrome on both hands. That causes the hands to swell, it brings a burning pain and shooting pain up the arms up to the elbows and, as she is a dental nurse, that has an impact on her ability to work. It also has an impact on her quality of life and well-being as an individual too. Now, having being told that the waiting list, back in July, was 12 months for emergency cases, she received confirmation in September that she is now considered an emergency case, but the waiting list is now two years long. Now, in despair, she's decided that she has no option but to access private treatment and, to fund that, she is having to sell her home. Now, you can accuse us of being pessimists if you choose, but do you think it's acceptable that somebody has to turn to a scenario where they have to sell their home to have access to a private service that should be available on the NHS? And doesn't this highlight the fact that there is an increasing move towards the use of private services, be that intentional or not, under your Government's leadership?