Health Minister Mark Drakeford has said:
“The Nuffield Trust report, while acknowledging the problems of comparing different health services, is clear there have been improvements in all four countries since devolution.
“In some important areas covered by the report, Wales does well. With regards to ‘the way in which the NHS runs’ and on ‘the way the NHS’s local doctors or GPs run nowadays’ Wales came out the highest in the UK, with 62% in Wales very satisfied with the health service. This compares to just 53% saying the same of the health service in England.
“We continue to invest in NHS staff and, as a result, Wales has seen the largest rise in the number of nurses during the period covered. We have increased the number of GPs per 1,000 people, while other countries stood still or fell.
“We are the only nation to have achieved a reduction in the rate of patient admissions during the post-devolution period, reflecting our focus on moving care out of hospitals and closer to people’s homes.
“The report shows dramatic improvements in ambulance response times to immediately life-threatening calls, and substantial reductions in waiting times in all four countries.
“While the report points out that spending on health has not increased in the devolved nations to the same extent as in England, it remains the case that England has the lowest spend on health per head of population.”
“The standard waiting time for orthopaedic surgery in February is 15 weeks in Wales – 11 weeks lower than the 26-week target.
“We have invested £65m in orthopaedic services over the last three years and patients are also offered a range of therapies and pain management.”
