What discussions he has had with the new Minister for Health and Social Services in the National Assembly for Wales Government on strategic approaches to health provision in England and Wales.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has not yet met the new Minister for Health and Social Services in the National Assembly for Wales, but he regularly meets his fellow UK Health Ministers to discuss matters of common interest.

I seek the indulgence of the House to pay tribute to the staff in acute care and ambulance services at Morriston hospital, Swansea, who saved my father's life over the Christmas period. I also pay tribute to the work carried out in the national health service throughout the country.

I am sure that the Minister agrees that one of the benefits of devolution is that we can learn lessons from both sides of Offa's dyke, and the Assembly should be applauded for its work on primary care, healthy living initiatives and so on. When the Minister meets Dr. Brian Gibbons, the new Health and Social Services Minister, will she take the opportunity to bolster his good work on waiting times by discussing the excellent initiatives in England such as targeted waiting times and mobile units?

Does she think that some matters will be off the record in those discussions—

Order. That is three supplementaries; we will not go into a fourth.

I am sure that the staff will appreciate my hon. Friend's comments, because NHS staff are too often not thanked for their work. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will meet the Health and Social Services Minister in the Welsh Assembly Government, and I am sure that he will be happy to discuss how we have made dramatic improvements on waiting lists, which is a problem that we inherited, by setting clear national targets and adopting innovative approaches such as mobile units. I am also sure that he will be happy to discuss improvements to public health in Wales.

My hon. Friend asked which matters will not be on the agenda. The introduction of patient charges in the NHS, taking £1.2 billion away from the NHS and the dreaded patient passport will certainly not be on the agenda, because, unlike the Conservative party, this party believes in the NHS being free at the point of need.

While the Minister is discussing public health, will she undertake an urgent review of strategy for health protection and food safety with the devolved Administration in Wales and its counterpart in Scotland in the light of this week's contamination of the food chain? In particular, will she undertake to review the role of the Food Standards Agency, given the slow and chaotic way in which it has responded to the crisis?

The most important point is ensuring maximum protection for the public, and we expect the FSA to do just that. We will examine the episode to see what lessons can be learned, but we will take no lessons from the Conservative party, which brought us bovine spongiform encephalopathy. The Conservative plans in the James review include cutting the Meat Hygiene Service, which was set up to protect the public.

Does my hon. Friend agree that it is not acceptable for patients from Wales who are seeing the same consultant as patients from England at the same hospital to wait twice as long to obtain similar treatment? Will she discuss that issue as a matter of urgency with the new Minister in the National Assembly for Wales and impress upon him the great success of the NHS in England in reducing waiting times?

I hope that my hon. Friend recognises that those matters are obviously for the Assembly, and, if he feels it necessary, I am sure that he will make those points to Assembly Ministers. In March, guidance will be published on payments between Welsh and English trusts and on waiting times.

How can the Minister possibly believe that the people of Wales are receiving value for money when, despite a 31 per cent. increase in funding between 2000 and 2003, the number of finished consultant episodes actually declined by 1 per cent. in that time?

The hon. Lady knows that the matters that she raises are for the Welsh Assembly to determine. The Conservative party did not support devolution to Wales. We do, and those matters are for the Welsh Assembly.