Welsh Conservatives said yesterday that Labour’s First Minister refused to explain why 15,000 Welsh cancer patients are being treated in England every year.
Under questioning from the Leader of the Opposition, Andrew RT Davies AM, the First Minister failed to defend his government’s record on the Welsh NHS, which receives the worst funding settlement in the UK.
In June 2013, the First Minister said in relation to waiting times that ‘figures in Wales are going in the right direction’.
However, figures from a parliamentary answer show that last year 15,000 Welsh cancer patients had to travel to England for treatment – a figure that has quadrupled in the past 10 years. Over 14,000 patients are waiting over 14 weeks for diagnostic tests.
Andrew RT Davies said, “You only need to look at the latest statistics to understand the reality of a Labour-run NHS.
“Labour has imposed record-breaking cuts to the NHS budget, presided over rising waiting lists and years of missed targets.
“Over 15,000 Welsh cancer patients are now seeking treatment in English hospitals, a figure that has quadrupled over the last decade of Labour rule.
“The health service under Labour is going backwards – waiting times are rising, more patients are waiting and health outcomes are getting worse, yet all the First Minister has to offer is complacency.
“Despite the tireless work of dedicated workers in the Welsh NHS, cancer services are not delivering the standard of care that patients deserve. Patients are waiting too long from diagnosis to the start of treatment and too many are denied access to cancer medicines which are readily available in other parts of the UK.
“Labour has refused to set up a Cancer Drugs Fund, denying cancer medicines to vulnerable patients, while tens of thousands of patients are forced to travel many miles away from home for treatment.
“With a Kinnock back in the Welsh Labour fold and the worst health outcomes in any part of the UK, to coin a Kinnock Senior phrase – If you vote Welsh Labour, you better hope you don’t get ill.”
