Residents and NHS staff are being let down by the Welsh Labour Government, who have responsibility for delivering our health care services in Wales. I have seen this first-hand, having returned to front line nursing during the pandemic.
Wait times for treatment in Wales are at a record high and more than double those in England. 1 in 7 people are on a waiting list for surgery and recent statistics from the local health board show that wait times across North Wales are soaring. As of August 2021 there were 138,964 people waiting for treatment in our health board area, compared with 102,629 in August 2019 and, over the same time period, the proportion waiting 36 weeks or more had shot up from 10% to 39%.
Most worryingly, we all have personal experiences of the waiting times in A&E at the Maelor, which are unacceptable and accessing your GP is getting more and more difficult.
As such, I will continue to advocate for my constituents and hold the Welsh Government to account on access to healthcare provision. In the recent Budget, the UK Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, gave the Welsh Government £2.5 billion per year in funding, on top of its annual baseline funding of £15.9 billion. This is most generous funding settlement since devolution in 1998 and gives the Welsh Government sufficient funding certainty to plan in-year spending and to provide additional future investments in health care across Wales.
Going forward, to improve our local healthcare services and to restore confidence in the system, I am now calling for:
- An inquiry into healthcare services in Wrexham to give confidence that concerns are being listened to.
- Reforms to the management structure to make clinicians central within the health board's management.
- A walk-in centre for Wrexham to alleviate pressure on GPs and A&E.
You can send the Welsh Labour Government a message that healthcare in Wrexham needs drastic improvements by using the form below.
