Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:26 pm on 22 March 2023.
The Welsh Government health Minister is, of course, responsible for holding health boards to account, and must make her views known, as she has done—[Interruption.] and she does, I agree, Jenny; she does make her views known—when she doesn't have confidence in them. And, in the same way, for those of us in this Chamber who are not in Government, it is our job to hold the Government to account and raise our concerns when we don't have confidence in decisions that are being made by Ministers.
It is undeniable that the pandemic has recalibrated what we can expect from the NHS, but it's not a coincidence nor an ignorable fact—and a fact is what it is—that Wales is far behind England and Scotland in seeing the recovery in waiting times—[Interruption.] That is true; I can hear, 'It's not true' being whispered behind me. This is also in the context of Wales going into the pandemic in a much poorer state than in other nations of the UK.
Now, we are awaiting tomorrow's figures for January, and I want to compare Wales and England to demonstrate just how badly short-changed I think patients are in Wales. I do so—[Interruption.] Yes, sure, Jenny.