Health minister dismisses doctors’ claims the NHS is “broken” in Wales

As reported by the BBC News, Eluned Morgan disagrees with the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) but admits the system is under “immense” pressure

The RCEM described the NHS as “broken”, following reports that waitings times in accident and emergency (A&E) were at an all time high.

The Welsh Tories said the the health service was “going in the wrong direction” and Plaid Cymru believe that the problems “existed for years” before pandemic.

Recent figures show the number of patients waiting 12-hour in A&E was the worst on record and ambulance response times was the second worst.

In March 2022:

• 65.1% of people were seen within four hours at A&E – the previous worst was 65.6% in October 2021
• More patients waited to 12 hours for treatment than in any month to date – 10,886
• Average daily attendances in A&E also increased – 232 more attendances a day than the previous month

Ms Morgan commented “It is tough, there’s no question about it and what we can do is our very best to address that system.

“The demand on the system is like nothing we’ve seen before.”

In response to the RCEM, Ms Morgan said: “We’re managing to see around 200,000 people a month – that’s not a broken system.”

The aim is to return to pre-pandemic levels by the end of this Senedd term in 2026.