Public must get fit to help NHS - health minister Eluned Morgan

The public must get fitter to help the NHS, Wales' health minister said.

Eluned Morgan made the comments in a BBC interview to mark the institution's 75th anniversary.

Ms Morgan said it was "fundamental" people understand how they can give themselves "better life chances".

She said ministers face "difficult decisions" as the health service sees increases in demand and financial constraints, and patients may need to travel further for specialist care.

The Welsh Conservatives challenged Welsh government claims that the UK government was not providing enough cash for the NHS in Wales.

Ms Morgan spoke after BMA Cymru chairwoman Dr Iona Collins said problems in the NHS in Wales mean it no longer can be relied on.

She said 80% of the most important "red" emergency calls are being responded to within 15 minutes.

But the health minister said some of the "huge issues" with the NHS are because of underfunding from the UK government.

Ms Morgan said the service faces a "real problem" with "financial constraints" and increases in demand.

"Traditionally, we spent about 10% on diabetes, if it heads in the same direction, we'd be spending 17% in future years. We haven't got any extra money." she said.

"So where's that money going to come from?

"So we are going to have to make some quite difficult decisions, but we'll make them with the public."

Asked what her vision of the NHS's future was, she said: "There's lots of things that are not within the health budget that we can fix, but they're to do with housing and to do with poor air quality.

"But also we've got to get the public to perhaps come with us on that journey to understand to what extent they can help themselves to get fitter, to be in a situation where they are giving [themselves] better life chances for the future.

"That's fundamental."

Ms Morgan added: "We're also very keen to see a shift perhaps, where we have care closer to people's homes.

"We've got to acknowledge we have an ageing population. We're going to have to shift away from the kind of reactive emergency response to a longer term approach where we accept that, the ageing population."

She added: "There may be occasions where people may need to travel further for specialist care. So that is something where we are going to need a further conversation with the public."

For the Welsh Conservatives, Russell George said: "We know that for every one pound spent on health in England, the Welsh government receives £1.20 but they spend £1.05 on health in Wales.

"They have not protected the budget on health in Wales this financial year and that's not the case over the border."

Plaid Cymru's Heledd Fychan said Labour had been in charge of the health service in Wales for 24 years and had failed to plan for the current "crisis" situation.

"We are trying to play catch up and who is suffering? It's the patients and the staff who are at breaking point," she said.