WELSH GOVERNMENT Minister for Health and Social Services Mark Drakeford AM visited Llanelli on Monday (Feb 1) to show his support for Labour’s Llanelli AM candidate Lee Waters.
The Herald caught up with them both at the Vista Lounge, where Professor Drakeford told us that he was in Llanelli to highlight the issues of the election and the choice the people of Llanelli faced.
We asked the minister if what the Conservatives and Plaid Cymru were offering were worth considering as ideas to be implemented regardless of who was in government.
“Some of their ambitions are what anybody would share.” Mark Drakeford told us. “Under the Tories there will be an elected Health Tsar in charge of the Health Service, much like a police and crime commissioner. Very much like the police and crime commissioner. Let’s not forget that it was only around 8% of the population that turned out to vote for them. It is amongst the most foolish ideas I have ever come across in the health field.
“It’s certainly NOT the policy the Tory party puts into practice in England. It would guarantee that the possibility of cooperation across health board boundaries, which is what we really need to see in Wales, would be made more and more difficult.”
He continued: “One of the most promising things for health care in this part of the world has been the way in the last two years, the Swansea Health Board and the Hywel Dda Health Board have started to work together. That is particularly important for population of Llanelli who use services in Morriston, Llanelli, Singleton and Carmarthen.
“We need health boards who can work across those boundaries effectively for patients. The Tory policy would guarantee that that could not happen.”
Lee Waters told us: “There is huge innovation at the Prince Phillip Hospital and it has been turned into a centre of excellence modelling a new type of emergency care. We are pointing out the contrast between us (Labour) and Plaid Cymru whose priority is a reorganisation of the Health Service. What they are saying is that they want to take responsibility for doctors out of the hands of the Health Board and put it in the hands of Carmarthenshire County Council.”
Lee Waters mordantly observed: “Whatever you think of Carmarthenshire County Council, do we really want them in charge of the county’s doctors?”
Attacking Conservative election pledges, Professor Drakeford told The Herald: “The Tories say they want to spend more on the health service. People need to look at their record, rather than what they say. The Welsh Government has 10% less money to spend every single year and 30% less on capital funding to make sure we have the buildings and equipment we need for the future.
Labour have been in government for 17 years and the Conservatives have been critical of their record on health, education and the economy. We asked the minister if they were fair criticisms.
Mark Drakeford observed: “It often strikes me as a bit odd when Tories complain that Labour have been in power for 17 years, because it sounds as though somehow it was an act of God. Labour has been in power in Wales because people in Wales have elected Labour governments four times in a row.
“I am in Llanelli myself today to say to the people of Llanelli that the Llanelli constituency is absolutely pivotal to the National Assembly elections.
“We need a Labour Assembly Member from Llanelli. We need people of the calibre of Lee Waters. Then we will have a fighting chance of doing some of the things that anybody would want to see for the future of our health service. Better access for people, the most effective treatments we can provide for people, the sorts of building we want our staff to work out of and more staff where we can afford to pay for them. The number of nurses will go above 28,000 for the first time.
“Right across England where the Tories are in charge trusts are being instructed to sack nurses because their budget is so badly overspent.”
Professor Drakeford concluded: “The Tories are in public life to cut and cut again. If they got their hands on the government in Wales that is the recipe the people of Llanelli would be facing.”
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