Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:55 pm on 10 January 2023.
Diolch, Llywydd. Minister, you've told us that we have a problem with not being able to attract sufficient staff—I accept that—but you don't seem to acknowledge that we do have a problem with having insufficient numbers of beds. Now, I've raised this issue a few times in the Senedd before, but I'm going to do so again. When will north Denbighshire get its promised community hospital? We saw beds axed in Rhyl, in Prestatyn, in St Asaph and in nearby Denbigh—scores of beds. And as a result of a loss of those beds, there is now extra pressure on Ysbyty Glan Clwyd. There's no denying that. That is a fact. Now, you tell us that we've got more staff working in the NHS than ever before. So, if we've got more staff and fewer beds, why can't we have some extra beds put in?
Now, I heard the First Minister's response to me, and I've heard your responses to me on this issue before. You say that you don't have the capital to be able to invest and that there have been rising costs on that particular project. Now, I've checked the figures, okay. I've checked the figures. Within the period that you announced that you would deliver that hospital, which was back in 2013, nearly a decade ago, you did build a hospital, but you built one in south Wales, the Grange hospital, okay. The cost of that hospital was £360 million. It's original budget was £172 million, okay. So, a massive additional cost, in the order of £188 million. Now, I do not begrudge the delivery of that hospital for the people that it serves in Gwent; it's an important investment. But where is the investment in north Wales? You've closed hospital after hospital after hospital, and we still haven't seen our hospital. It's current estimated cost is £64 million—that's a fraction of the investment that you've spent in the south. When will we see our hospital in order that we can deliver the sorts of improvements in access to care that people in north Denbighshire require?