Fflint Wrecsam MS tells Senedd he waited a year for Betsi Cadwaladr appointment contact
An MS representing Fflint Wrecsam has told the Senedd he has waited a year without contact after being placed on a Betsi Cadwaladr out-patient waiting list, as he pressed the First Minister over NHS delays facing patients in Flintshire and Wrexham.
Nigel Williams MS (Reform, Fflint Wrecsam) raised the case during First Minister’s Questions on Tuesday, after asking what action the Welsh Government is taking to reduce waiting times for out-patient appointments and surgery in the area.
The First Minister, Rhun ap Iorwerth, had responded to the original question by pointing to a £145 million funding announcement.
“We announced an additional £145 million to support a clinically led approach to focus on delivering a sustainable solution to reducing waiting times and driving pathway transformation,” he said.
“We’ve set up an expert panel to look at the development of surgical hubs and are commissioning an independent review of performance and the impact waiting has on patients.”
Mr Williams told the Chamber the response did not reflect his own experience.
“Well, that doesn’t help me, I’m afraid, First Minister,” he said.
“I’ve got a letter for an appointment here, actually, for myself personally, which was written a year ago, which tells me that I’ve been placed on an out-patient waiting list in Betsi Cadwaladr trust, and that I’d be contacted as soon as possible, and I’ve heard nothing since.”
He also referred to a case relayed to him by a constituent. “I’ve also been told by someone else that they’ve been waiting three years, three years, for gallbladder surgery, and they’ve heard nothing since whatsoever.”
Mr Williams asked the First Minister directly what could be done for his constituent so that they could realistically expect to receive treatment.
“What are you actually doing, and what can you do for my constituent, so they can realistically expect to receive the appointment and treatment they’ve been waiting so long for?”
The Llywydd, Huw Irranca-Davies, later noted that raising a personal case in this way touches on the Senedd’s code of conduct on Members pursuing their own matters in the Chamber.
The First Minister made the same point directly to Mr Williams.
“I would respectfully ask the Member to reflect on the code of conduct on pursuing our own particular cases within the Welsh Parliament,” Mr ap Iorwerth said.
He went on to acknowledge the wider problem of NHS waiting times without addressing Mr Williams’s case specifically. “It is the length of waiting lists in terms of numbers and it is the length of time that people are waiting on them that have led this Government to conclude, even before we came into Government, that this was a priority.”
He pointed to the supplementary budget, due to be voted on later the same day, as the Government’s response. “It’s why decisions have been made through the supplementary budget, which we hope can be passed today, in order to spend on bringing down waiting times and making the system sustainable, because it is unacceptable.”
No specific commitment was made on Mr Williams’s own case, and no timeline was given for when he, or the constituent he referred to, might expect contact from Betsi Cadwaladr.
The exchange formed part of a wider pattern in the same sitting, in which several MSs representing Fflint Wrecsam raised NHS waiting times directly with the First Minister, including separate cases on hospital parking and cataract surgery delays.
Check live fuel prices near you before you set off.
Spotted something? Got a story? Email news (@) deeside.com
NEW: Add Deeside.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
Latest News
