Plaid Cymru’s Peredur Owen Griffiths has said that NHS reform is key to tackling record high waiting lists.

The MS for South Wales East said it was “time for Labour to stop hiding from their responsibilities for health, stop blaming others and take positive action.”

Latest figures reveal 615,300 patients were on waiting lists in Wales – with 23,418 waiting more than two years for treatment.

Figures show that in the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board alone there are 139,992 on the patient pathway waiting list.

Speaking after a Plaid Cymru opposition debate in the Senedd that called on the Labour Government in Wales to urgently review its plan to reduce NHS waiting lists, Peredur said it was time for action.

“We may have a new Labour First Minister in place and a new Labour Health Minister in place, but it has been a case of déjà vu when it comes to their party’s handling of the NHS in Wales,” said Peredur.

“We’ve already seen the excuses trotted out that everyone else is to blame for the mess that patients and dedicated NHS staff have to deal with on a daily basis.

“It is time for Labour to stop hiding from their responsibilities for health, stop blaming others and take positive action.”

“It is key that reforms within the service cannot wait for Labour to get to grips with waiting lists – they must be tackled in conjunction with each other.

“There has to be proper investment in the preventative agenda to keep people out of hospital, the development of an initiative to tackle the deep-rooted issues of staff retention, harness technological innovations to bring care closer to home, invest and modernise the NHS estate as well as secure a fair funding deal for Wales from Westminster.

“Labour in government look stale, tired and out of ideas. After running the NHS in Wales for a quarter of a century, it is time for the fresh and ambitious leadership that only Plaid Cymru can provide in Wales.”

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