Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 2:38 pm on 14 December 2022.
Thank you very much. And in the final health questions of the year, may I take this opportunity to wish the Minister, the Senedd, and everyone working across the health and care services a very 'Merry Christmas'? But it sounds quite an empty greeting, when we look at the challenges that those services face. I truly didn't know what to ask today. There are so many things that I could pursue: the winter challenges; the staff recruitment and retention crisis; treatment waiting times in A&E; ambulance waiting times; the future of the air ambulance; strikes; I could have included the shortage of antibiotics—there's a topical question that's been accepted on that. Where does one start? But let me ask you this: what state does the Minister expect the NHS to be in by the time I can ask my next questions here in the Senedd? I fear that patients and staff have lost faith in the Government's ability to manage the NHS. Can I ask the Minister to give us something—anything—that we can see as improving, a corner turned, in order to prove that we can trust in the Minister?