5. What is the Welsh Government's strategy for improving healthcare provision in South Wales West? OQ61026

We recognise the need to improve healthcare provision throughout Wales, and are working with health boards to achieve this through 'A Healthier Wales', our 10-year plan for health and care.

Diolch yn fawr. Cabinet Secretary, earlier this month Morriston Hospital in Swansea issued yet another black alert due to exceptional demand. It's not the first time Morriston Hospital has had to issue such a notice. In fact, there have been nine separate black alert incidents in the last 12 months at Morriston. A black alert should only be implemented in exceptional circumstances, but the frequency with which we're seeing them now in Morriston suggests that they're anything but exceptional. It's experiencing continually high demand that they are clearly struggling to meet, and we all know why. It's because this Welsh Labour Government is the only one in the UK to cut an NHS budget not once, not twice, but three times in total. So, isn't it clear for all to see that the decision of this Welsh Labour Government to prioritise vanity projects like 20 mph speed limits and more politicians is having a real-world impact on our NHS and on those that rely on it the most? 

You're quite right—the demand on the service is quite incredible. One of the things we've seen is a huge increase in the number of referrals to the NHS. In 2019, it was 1 million a year; in 2023, 1.2 million a year. That's a significant increase in the number of people. The number of people tested for cancer in 2019 was 8,000. Today, it's 14,000. That's a 75 per cent increase. So, of course, the pressures on our services are increasing. Some of that is a good thing in the sense that if you check people out, then you're more likely to catch cancer early, and that's a good thing for the patient.

Of course, those challenges in Swansea need to be addressed. Some of that is about delayed transfers of care, so there is a need to work much more closely with local authorities. But I do think that it's a bit self-indulgent to look at the fantasy politics that you're talking about, Tom. The fact is it's your Government that crashed the economy and has left us in a situation where we invest significantly less in health compared to the rest of Europe.