Mark Isherwood
North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has called on the Health Minister to respond to evidence of shocking waiting times for treatment in North Wales’ hospitals.
Mr Isherwood has been contacted by older constituents who have been told by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board that it is working to a 52-week treatment waiting time, when Welsh Government policy is for 95 per cent of patients to be treated within 26 weeks and for 100 per cent of patients to be treated within 36 weeks from referral by a GP or other medical practitioner to hospital for treatment.
Raising the matter with the Health Minister, Mark Drakeford AM, in the Assembly Chamber Mr Isherwood said:
“In a letter dated 1 April, you reconfirmed the Welsh Government policy of 26 week and 36 week waiting times and you said that you expected patients to be seen in accordance with clinical priority, which is for the relevant consultant to decide. How, therefore, do you respond to correspondence received by constituents from Betsi Cadwaladr within the last two months confirming that it is working to a 52 week referral-to-treatment pathway, and further confirming two weeks ago that it is actually working to 52 weeks from going on the waiting list rather than from referral?
“There is also a letter from a consultant to a GP saying: ‘Neither I nor my secretary have control over the waiting list. As soon as the health board places your constituent on the waiting list, I’m happy to do the operation.’
The Minister said “it is impossible” to respond to extracts from letters that he has not seen that are read out in Plenary, but confirmed that there are conditions for which Betsi Cadwaladr is currently unable to provide treatment within the 26 week and 36 week periods that the Welsh Government lay down.
He assured Mr Isherwood that his officials are working very closely with the Health Board “to ensure that it is in a position to do that in the future.”
Mr Isherwood added: “The common factor in these cases is that the patients concerned are aged over 70, when NHS Wales owes a duty of care to any person of any age in connection with their diagnosis, care or treatment.
“The Welsh Government has had full devolved responsibility for matters including the NHS in Wales since 1999 and it is shameful that its Ministers use a Political Representative’s need to protect constituent confidentiality to evade responding. I have now written to the Minister with the case details and hope that this will generate a more responsible reply.”
