The NHS in Wales has seen better days, but especially with added pressures during winter, there are more problems going on behind the scenes and directly for patients. Waiting times have been a longstanding issue, with opposition leaders questioning what is being done to fix the NHS in the short and longer terms.
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00:00And we know that the sad fact of the matter is that here in Wales, if you're in an emergency
00:09and you're in need of an emergency ambulance, when you pick up that phone and dial 999,
00:15there's just a one in two chance of that ambulance arriving within the target time.
00:21That is not good enough.
00:22People are dying, Minister, First Minister, as a result, and that is not acceptable.
00:28You will be aware, Darren, as I'm aware, as everybody in this chamber is aware, that
00:33the situation in relation to NHS very often is as a result of the lack of flow through
00:40the hospital.
00:41That's particularly difficult at this time of year when there are real pressures where
00:45you've got very many elderly people coming in with respiratory issues and they can't
00:50be discharged because there's nobody there to provide the packages of care.
00:55During Christmas, when lots of people are off, that is more difficult to provide those
00:59packages of care.
01:00So there's lots of reasons why this time of the year is more difficult.
01:05Winter is the hardest part of the year for the NHS, and it poses significantly more challenges
01:10than other times.
01:11But Plaid leader, Thrinap Yorworth, says that there are still plenty of issues during the
01:15rest of the year, and changing targets from a year to two-year waits for patients is doing
01:20little to help the whole situation.
01:22This is the First Minister failing on her number one priority.
01:26Now, with a promise to eradicate 12-month waiting times seemingly consigned to Labour's
01:32growing missed targets filing cabinet, will the First Minister confirm whether or not
01:37she stands by the two-year wait promise?
01:41What we've seen is a 66% reduction in two-year waits since March 22.
01:48I think that is something worth drawing attention to.
01:51We have seen a significant reduction despite that massive, massive call on the NHS.