Commenting on the publication of a report by the Wales Audit Office, which concludes that the Welsh NHS faces a “faces the toughest funding settlement in the UK” and a “significant funding gap for this financial year and beyond”, Darren Millar AM, Shadow Minister for Health & Social Services, said:
“This report provides further damning, independent evidence that the Welsh NHS is under pressure like never before and is ill-equipped to deal with the biggest cuts it has seen in its history.
“The Auditor General has confirmed that the NHS in Wales is facing the biggest cuts of any part of the UK and his message of a £570 million funding gap cannot go unheeded.
“The NHS is already creaking at the seams, with waiting lists rising month after month, cancer patients facing a postcode drugs lottery and vital maternity units facing crushing downgrades.
“There are clearly huge risks for the health of the nation if the Welsh Labour Government presses ahead with the reckless cuts proposed in its draft budget.
“The Finance Minister must now go back to the drawing board to ensure that the health service gets the resources it so desperately needs.”
