Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 2:32 pm on 14 December 2022.
Thank you, Minister, for your answer. Of course, they're not effectively the same thing, because we're having a very different outcome in Wales. We've got 50,000 people, Minister, waiting over two years for treatment and the same figure in England and Scotland is zero—they've been wiped out. So, we're in a very different position. So, although you've set out a different position in Wales, I would suggest that that position is not working. We have one in four patients here waiting for over a year for treatment and the figure in England is one in 20. Average waiting times in Wales are 10 weeks longer than in England. So, I would say, look at what's working in England and do as England do when it is working. And I don't think it's safe to say—. I think it's very difficult for you to meet your targets this year, Minister; you've got a target to meet by the end of March and I think that it is more or less a reality now that you're not going to meet that target. I hope you do, but I don't think you're going to meet that target. I think it's going to be a very difficult target to meet even by the end of 2024.