Speaking in today’s Welsh Conservative debate, in which his Party called on the Welsh Government to address pressures on NHS Wales throughout the year, North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood highlighted concerns raised by patients and staff in North Wales and hit out at cuts to third sector bodies providing preventative services.
In the ‘NHS Capacity’ debate, Mr Isherwood also spoke of the GP crisis facing Wales, quoting BMA Wales figures which show that 21 GP practices had closed since October 2015, with a further 82 at risk - and 29 now Health Board managed, with the largest number in North Wales.
Speaking in the Chamber, he said:
“Let us be absolutely clear – NHS Wales has been led by Labour Health Ministers in Labour-led Governments since 1999. Referral to treatment targets continue to be missed – and the A&E Waiting times target has not been met in 10 years.
“Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board has been under Welsh Government control for 3 and a half years. Welsh Government figures last month showed that Wrexham Maelor and Glan Clwyd Hospitals had achieved the worst A&E performance for Welsh Hospitals since records began.
“A fortnight after writing to the Health Board about a constituent who has waited 3 years for a knee operation and who is in constant pain, we only received an acknowledgement from the Health Board yesterday after chasing this with their new Chair.
“A constituent who spent 3 hours with a neighbour who subsequently died, while he waited in the snow for an ambulance following a stroke, then suffered 6 months of procrastination and misinformation after complaining to the Welsh Ambulance Service. Only my intervention with the Chief Executive secured an apology and response.
“This summer, more than five thousand hours were lost because Ambulances were delayed handing over patients at North Wales Hospitals.
“Bed Occupancy rates consistently exceed the recommended 85% occupancy level to maintain patient safety standards. Over the last two years, almost 75,000 NHS Wales patients have had their operations cancelled for non-clinical reasons.
“It is now clear that unscheduled care services are not just under extreme pressure in Winter, but all year round – this is why our motion calls on the Welsh Government to develop a comprehensive national plan to address pressures and ensure that patients receive unplanned and critical care services which meet their needs – including preventative services such as community and out of hours care.”
He added: “As the WLGA Conservative group leader, Peter Fox, said last week in a document supported by Local Government leaders from all parties: 'With £370 million new monies arriving from Westminster, an imaginative approach to funding preventative services to keep people out of hospitals was needed”.
“On a frustratingly regular basis, I have also raised in this Chamber cases of Third Sector bodies providing effective preventative services which have lost their funding because of dumb commissioning, which is adding millions to the cost pressure on statutory health and care services.”
He added: “The Welsh Government’s policy of strengthening primary care and community-based settings is not being matched by resource allocation.
“If patients are to receive care closer to their home, it is imperative General Practice is properly resourced.
“In 2014, the Royal College of General Practitioners warned that the share of Welsh NHS funding for patient care in General Practice had been falling for years.
“A BMA Wales survey in 2016 found that 82% of GPs were worried about the sustainability of their practice. In 2016/17 – the most recently available figures – Welsh General Practice received the lowest share of NHS Health spend in the United Kingdom – despite a rise in patient demand.
“Last week, BMA Wales figures showed that 21 GP practices had closed since October 2015, with a further 82 at risk - and 29 now Health Board managed, with the largest number in North Wales. In pursuing this agenda, some might say that the Welsh Government has been putting ideology before patients – where BMA Wales also provided evidence that managed practices do not provide value for money”.