In June, as leaders from every political party were campaigning for your vote in the Westminster election, Wales hit a landmark that should serve as a badge of shame for every politician.
According to the latest statistics, hospital waiting lists in June in Wales reached record highs, with some 615,000 patients waiting for almost 800,000 treatments. Shamefully, both of those numbers were at all-time highs.
Despite Government promises and the comings and goings of health ministers in Cardiff Bay, those waiting lists have actually grown by 12 per cent since July 2022. Sure, coronavirus is the excuse most bandied about, but that increase happened AFTER the pandemic.
Sadly, some 160,000 patients in Wales are waiting more than a year for treatment. And there are more than 23,000 of us waiting at least two years - which says a lot about where patients figure when it comes to delivering healthcare in a timely fashion.
When it comes to visits to A&E departments, there was a very marginal improvement, with 69.3 per cent of patients getting in and out in four hours of less - a 0.4 per cent improvement on the month before.
These statistics make for grim reading indeed. And with Eluned Morgan, a former health minister firmly ensconced in the First Minister’s office in Cardiff, it’s all the more shameful. These all-time dismal waiting lists occurred under her watch.
So, Ms Morgan, now that you’re First Minister, what are you going to do about it? And why, when you were Health Minister, didn’t you do something about it then?
We’re not going to hold our breath waiting for answers. We’ll likely be told that the Conservatives at Westminster were to blame. But that’s not acceptable. Health is a devolved responsibility. And as First Minister, Ms Morgan, it’s you’re job to sort this mess out. God knows, too many people have waited long enough for something to happen...
If you’re not up to the task, you can always hold an election. There’s a good 615,000 who won’t hold back in having their say on why they’ve been waiting so long.