Key NHS services coping with winter, says minister

Despite increased demand due to winter pressures "essential services have been maintained" across the Welsh NHS, the health secretary has said.

Jeremy Miles told the Senedd advanced planning meant a "more resilient" service was provided.

He said there had been a big push to get patients out of hospital before Christmas and that this freeing up of capacity had helped deal with the "surge in respiratory illnesses, including flu".

But the Conservatives said the health service was "repeatedly pushed beyond safe limits" whilst Plaid Cymru said parts of the service were not working together effectively enough.

Miles praised NHS staff for meeting demand driven by a combination of winter illnesses, such as flu, and the cold weather, including last week's Storm Goretti.

He said that many hospitals had at time operated at near or full capacity but had opened additional beds wherever possible and redeployed staff to "areas of greatest need".

Miles told Senedd members he had visited several hospitals recently, including Aneurin Bevan health board's Grange hospital in Cwmbran.

He praised NHS staff for their work and added that the NHS was prepared for further surges in demand later this month.

Conservative shadow health spokesman James Evans said staff had "carried the NHS through one of the most pressurised months and periods of the year".

However, he said: "Gratitude alone cannot compensate for a system that is repeatedly pushed beyond safe limits.

"The cabinet secretary describes services this winter as 'broadly resilient' and tells us that essential services have been maintained.

"Yet for patients across Wales the lived experience this winter has been one of overcrowded emergency departments, ambulances outside hospitals and waiting lists that are continuing to grow.

"When resilience is claimed so confidently, is it reasonable to ask whether the description reflects the operational reality, or simply the absence of a complete system failure?"

Plaid Cymru health spokesperson Mabon ap Gwynfor also paid tribute to staff.

"On a personal level, I was at the emergency department at the hospital in Cardiff and Ysbyty Maelor (Wrexham) last week as my wife broke her wrist," he said.

"So, I was very grateful to the staff for the hard work that they did in helping her during that period."

But he also expressed concerns about the system.

"Sadly, the workforce's dedication is frequently undermined by a system whose elements simply don't function together as effectively as they should.

"This is typified by the persistent issue of delayed hospital discharges, itself a reflection of Labour's long-term neglect of community care".

Another Plaid Cymru Senedd member, Peredur Owen Griffiths, also drew on his personal experience of a recent leg injury.

"I'm grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the winter pressure statement this afternoon, having experienced some of that pressure first-hand after rupturing my patellar tendon just before Christmas," he said.

"I spent a little bit longer in the Grange than you did, cabinet secretary.

"I spent 36 hours in a chair at the Grange before a bed became available.

"I was then sent home overnight a day later, and had surgery the following day at another hospital."

Miles responded: "I do want to say that I think Aneurin Bevan health board in particular are working on the optimal hospital flow framework across all of their sites.

"We do want to see that embedded fully.

"We have to see it implemented completely so that we can get patients moving safely both through the hospital and home."