5. What steps is the Welsh Government taking to tackle waiting times for treatment in north Wales? OQ58885

I am pleased to see that the longest waiting times for treatment at Betsi Cadwaladr have fallen and are 21 per cent lower than they were in March 2022. As part of targeted intervention, they are receiving support from the planned care recovery and improvement team to ensure that they are able to plan their elective care effectively.

A constituent has contacted me who is a dental nurse. She suffers with carpal tunnel syndrome in both hands. Clearly, that impacts her ability to work, but it also has an impact on her well-being and quality of life. She was told before the summer that she would have to wait 12 months for treatment, but only if it was an emergency. It was confirmed in September that it was an emergency but that the waiting time was now two years. Now, such is the pain and the impact that the condition has on her that she's now decided that she must access private treatment. To pay for that, she is having to sell her home, Minister. So, what's your message to people such as her, who are driven to the private sector and very often have to do that although they can't truly afford to? And aren't you ashamed that people are having to sell their homes to get treatment—[Inaudible.]   

Thank you. Of course, I understand why people might feel that that is a system—

—from the private sector that, of course, is supposed to be available to them on the NHS?

I think that Llyr Gruffydd froze there—not because of the weather, but because of technological problems. But I think that the Minister got the gist of the question. So, the Minister to respond. 

Thank you. We understand that people are fed up in having to wait so long. Carpal tunnel syndrome is something that an orthopaedic surgeon has to be involved in. I think that it is important that we monitor how much work the orthopaedic surgeons do. It's very important that we continue with this work.

We had another meeting recently with the British specialist in orthopaedic surgery to ensure that people understand what the system is—what the best pathway is to get as many people through the system as quickly as possible. So, there is a job of work to do across Wales to improve the performance of what is already in place when it comes to orthopaedic surgery. So, I'm sure that, in Betsi Cadwaladr, they have heard that message clearly from me recently. 

I thank Llyr Gruffydd for raising this important point, which, of course, is a broader issue not just around carpal tunnel syndrome, but around the fact that many people who have paid their taxes or national insurance over many decades are unable to gain treatment in a reasonable, timely manner, as something that they have paid for, for many, many years. So, I wonder first of all, Minister, whether you think that that’s a fair situation for many of my constituents to be in, who have paid into the system for such a long time but cannot gain the treatment from the system when they need it. And also, in relation to private healthcare, I wonder if you could outline how you are working with the private health sector to utilise any capacity or capability and fund NHS patients who can access that care in a more timely manner. Thank you very much. 

Thanks very much. I think that what's really important is that we keep on remembering how many people are actually helped on a monthly basis. What's really interesting for me—. Obviously, I get a lot of people coming up to me and complaining about their waiting times. But I also get a lot of people coming up to me saying what an absolutely magnificent job the NHS is doing for them. And I would like to take this opportunity, just before Christmas, to thank NHS workers across Wales for the incredible work that they have done over the past year. It really has been a relentless year. We understand that it's difficult and, obviously, we thank them for all the work that they have done.

It's important to understand that there are people working flat out. There are also some spaces where, actually, we can improve performance, and the first thing for me is we've got to get the maximum capacity from the people we're already paying at the moment. So, obviously we are doing a certain amount in the private sector already, but, for me, I want to get my money's worth out of people we're already paying, and sometimes—it's interesting, isn't it—they haven't got a packed plan for the day that actually they should have. There may be good reasons for that, but then that's up to management to make sure that those systems are in place to ensure that people who have these incredible skills are able to do the job that they've been trained to do. So, that's why we have these very regular meetings now with surgeons, with health board executives, just to make sure they understand: this is the optimum pathway, why aren't you doing more day cases, why aren't you doing the longest waiters, as we've asked you to, first? And actually there's a long way to go on some of this stuff, and I think my job as a health Minister is to push them on what we have asked them to do and to deliver. 

Question 6, Huw Irranca-Davies. 

Thank you, Llywydd. Apologies. Apologies.

It's all right.

It's Nadolig; I'm in a good mood. 

Diolch, diolch, diolch, diolch. [Laughter.] Will the Minister—? Diolch yn fawr iawn. Christmas spirit.