Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:35 pm on 22 March 2023.
We can refer this afternoon to a catalogue of failings in the NHS under this Government's watch, this current Minister and her predecessors: the worst waiting times ever; the stubborn failure to change tack when it's been obvious that efforts to cut those waiting times weren't going to succeed, far from it; the crisis of ambulance waits; staff shortages; attitudes towards those taking industrial action; the mess that is the dental service, laid bare in the Senedd again last week. But it's the Minister's handling of the Betsi Cadwaladr issue at the end of last month that was the straw that broke the camel's back for us on these benches, and which did lead us to call for her to consider her position or for the First Minister to remove her, calls certainly not taken lightly. In that context, and despite it being a few weeks on now, we will support this motion here today.
But most important to me this afternoon is the opportunity to emphasise what's at stake here, what it is we're fighting for when it comes to the future of the NHS. Joyce Watson.