NHS 75: Labour running Welsh service into the ground, say Tories

The Conservatives accused Labour of running the Welsh NHS "into the ground", in a Tory-led Senedd debate celebrating 75 years of the service.

Senedd member Sam Rowlands insisted a "Welsh NHS revival" required "the removal of Labour from office".

Plaid Cymru's Mabon ap Gwynfor warned private GP practices were opening across Wales due to "lack of GP cover".

Health Minister Eluned Morgan said about 1.5 million people access GP services every month.

She said the fact that the equivalent of half of Wales' population was doing so demonstrated the "massive demand" health services were having to cope with.

All the politicians who spoke in a debate marking the milestone in the story of the NHS paid warm tributes to the efforts of health service staff.

They agreed that the NHS should remain free at the point of need, as it was when it began in 1948.

The debate focused on a Conservative motion which highlighted a British Medical Association (BMA) warning that "GP services and the Welsh NHS is in crisis and at risk of collapse".

North Wales Conservative Senedd member Mr Rowlands said the "vast range of challenges faced and support given by the NHS in Wales on any given day is mind boggling".

Mr Rowlands said responsibility for the situation the BMA described "sits clearly with the Welsh government".

"From founding the National Health Service to running it into the ground - that is the current legacy of the Labour Party here in Wales," he said.

"The evidence to me is clear. We all know what the first step in a Welsh NHS revival is - the removal of Labour from office."

Plaid Cymru's health spokesperson, Mabon ap Gwynfor, said there was a danger of "creeping privatisation" in Welsh health services.

"We're now seeing private GP practices opening in communities right across Wales," he said. "They are seeing an opportunity because of a lack of GP cover.

"It's a slow yet steady increase in private health care provision here in Wales.

"And unless we see that investment required to retain our brilliant staff and ensure they have the work life balance required in the 21st century, then we'll see this creeping privatisation taking over more and more of our health provision."

Ms Morgan offered her "sincere thanks to the health and care workforce for their dedication and ongoing commitment", comparing the Welsh NHS, for all its challenges, with healthcare on the other side of the Atlantic.

"I was reading just a few days ago that if you have a baby in the United States it costs about £13,000," she said.

"We take these things for granted at our peril. If you call an ambulance it will cost about £350. You go to a GP, the equivalent cost would be about £40 to £60."

She explained some of the key measures ministers were implementing to address "long-standing issues" and ease the strain on NHS staff, including for family doctors.

"We want to support GPs to be able to deliver this high quality care for the next 75 years," she told the Senedd.

"As a result of last year's contract agreement, we invested £17m in recognition of the vital role GPs and all their staff play in meeting the needs of patients."

To implement the Welsh government's vision for the health service, she stressed: "We're going to need support across this chamber, we're going to need support from the public, we're going to need support from our healthcare workers.

"We all have a role to play in protecting our NHS and ensuring that it continues to continue to provide that essential care for the people of Wales for the next 75 years."