Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:15 pm on 4 June 2024.
Vaughan Gething
Labour
2:15,
4 June 2024
Well, I recognise that long waits are something that I would not try to defend, whether it's emergency care or usual, planned care. There has been a reduction for long waits in north Wales, a more than 20 per cent reduction. There's been a reduction of more than 55 per cent, sorry, in orthopaedic patient waits as well, and there is investment going into the health service in north Wales. Ysbyty Glan Clwyd itself has had a significant refit, not just in the A&E department, but actually a whole-hospital refurbish and refit. We've also seen money going to new mental health units and indeed the orthopaedic unit in Llandudno, which the Cabinet Secretary went to open and to view. So, there is real investment going in. The challenge isn't just in the bricks and the mortar of the hospital, it's in the transformation and modernisation of the service overall, and the need to have not just the numbers of staff, but the way in which they work. It's a partnership for staff and the wider public; a partnership, indeed, with local government and beyond.
Part of our biggest challenge in getting people through hospital-based care is the fact that far too many people who are medically fit are still in a hospital bed. We can't fix that without the resources and the joint working between health, local care, local government and others. And, of course, we're in an environment, as the Member knows very well, where not only our budget has been compromised, with a more than £700 million real-terms reduction in the last three years, but actually that has a real impact on health and its partners as well.
There are real questions for us, and I believe a new page being turned on a UK level will give us more resources and different partnerships to work with. I look forward to listening to the public, understanding the challenges that I know that we face, but, crucially, I look forward to a new partnership that allows us to deliver on the aspirations of this Government and every community across the country.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.