In his latest blog for Caerphilly Observer, Plaid Cymru South Wales East AM, Steffan Lewis speaks about the problems the NHS faces in improving its performance figures.
“The crisis in the Welsh NHS has dominated the headlines this week. The British Red Cross described the situation in England as a ‘humanitarian crisis’. While in Wales, the president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine described the performance of our NHS being as bad as, if not worse than, in England.
“When questioned on it by Rhun ap Iorwerth, Plaid Cymru’s Health spokesperson, in the National Assembly, the Welsh Labour Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Health, Vaughan Gething, denied that there is a problem in Wales.
“Yet the most recent stats available about emergency care in Wales are from November, when just 77% of patients were seen within four hours. Almost 3,000 people waited longer than 12 hours to be seen in major A&E departments. Of course, this was before winter really started to bite. We may well see that these figures have got worse since then.
“The crisis isn’t confined to A&Es struggling with winter pressures. Throughout the system there are areas experiencing real problems. Child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), for example, has seen no improvement to waiting times despite Welsh Government investment in response to repeated calls to improve the service.
“Leanne Wood, the leader of Plaid Cymru, questioned the First Minister on CAHMS this week and raised the issue that many young people struggling with their mental health feel that the threshold for care is much too high. They have been made to wait until their condition gets worse before they can get help. For children and young people at such an important and formative moment in their lives, a delay in treatment can have a real knock on effect.
“Of course, this situation is also deeply unfair for NHS staff, at every level, who work extremely hard to give the best possible care to patients. They are forced to struggle with a system that is gradually coming apart at the seams. No wonder we hear reports of low morale among those who work in our hospitals and GP surgeries.
“Staff and patients in Wales deserve better than the current system. People in Wales should have an NHS that works for them year round.”