A new report by the Nuffield Trust suggests the Conservative Government’s relentless drive for drastic reorganisation and cutting of NHS budgets will continue to damage the delivery of the NHS in Wales, despite on-going protection by Labour Ministers in Cardiff Bay.
Labour AM for the Vale of Clwyd, Ann Jones, has blasted the UK Government’s draconian and ideologically motivated cuts to the Welsh budget, proving that even the most treasured of institutions isn’t safe from the Conservative Party.
Ms Jones has highlighted the conclusions of the expert report which clearly showed that continued cuts to the Welsh Government budget were to blame for the challenge that health boards are facing.
Commenting on the report, Ms Jones said: “The report really does hammer the nail in the coffin of the Tory-led Government’s legacy on the NHS.
“It is clear that Westminster’s austerity agenda will cause lasting damage to public services in Wales. Continued cuts will threaten the future of our NHS to the detriment of Cameron’s agenda of privatisation through the backdoor.
“We now face a situation in Wales where there is a growing demand for services but with stricter Westminster Budgets over the coming years, it will become more and more difficult to provide outstanding care and all required services.
“The Prime Minister, David Cameron, was elected on a promise of protecting the NHS yet it is the Welsh Labour Government that will have to rectify a £1.2 billion shortfall in NHS funding over the next 3 years.
“We cannot carry on with the current fiscal envelope that the UK government is delivering, the writing is very much on the wall of the mess Westminster has created.
“It is clear that this report has swept Cameron’s credibility away on the NHS, it has left his reputation in tatters and confirmed that he is embarking on a War on Wales”.
The Nuffield Trust ‘A decade of austerity in Wales’ report confirms the lasting damage of the Tory-led UK Government’s callous cuts to the NHS to services in Wales.
It highlights how for the next ten years the NHS services in Wales are going to be placed under huge pressure to maintain the high quality of care to patients but with a real-terms decrease in Westminster funding.
As Wales continues to have a growing-ageing population it addresses the questions on what the Welsh Labour Government can do to ease the pain of Cameron’s slicing of NHS budgets.
