Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, Kirsty Williams, has criticised the Welsh Labour Government’s failure to get a grip on cancer waiting time after statistics released today show that the waiting times target has been missed by over 10%.
The target is for 95% of urgent patients to be seen by a specialist within 62 days, but figures for July show that only 84.5% of people were seen in this time.
Kirsty Williams said:
“Being diagnosed with cancer is a terrifying experience. To then have to wait over two months until the start of your treatment is appalling.
“It was staggering to hear Labour’s Shadow Welsh Minister on the radio yesterday hailing the great success of cancer services in Wales. He must have incredibly low standards if he thinks that not hitting the cancer waiting time target since 2008 is a triumph.
“When I challenged the First Minister yesterday on his Welsh Labour Government’s failure to provide a decent health service, he once again appeared to be in denial. He may fumble around looking for figures that tell him all that he wants to hear and that everything is fine, but the fact is that his Welsh Labour Government is failing the people of Wales. The figures may be an improvement compared to the previous month, but things are still getting worse with nearly 5% more people being forced to wait than this time last year.
“NHS staff are working incredibly hard and doing the best they can, but sadly this Welsh Labour Government has completely mismanaged our NHS and patients are suffering because of it.”
