7. Will the First Minister make a statement on progress regarding access to NHS services in north Wales? OQ61191

The Welsh Government continues to work closely with the health board to drive sustainable improvement that enables patients to access safe and timely health and care services. We have set out clear expectations for improvement that will be followed through by myself and the Cabinet Secretary.

First Minister, under Labour, the NHS in north Wales is on its knees: the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board has been in and out of special measures since 2015; there's been a failure to deliver improvements, which has resulted in patients coming to harm; patients are waiting longer than in other parts of the UK for operations and treatments; and we all know that the Glan Clwyd Hospital, which serves the people of Conwy and Denbighshire, has the worst emergency department performance in the country, with one in four people waiting 12 hours or more in A&E. It's totally unacceptable.

Now, in a bid to address some of these issues, 11 years ago, the Welsh Government promised to build a brand-new hospital in Rhyl to serve the coastal strip, improve access to NHS services and alleviate the pressure on Glan Clwyd. It should have been open in 2016, but we're yet to see a spade in the ground, First Minister, and yet, since then, since 2013, you've opened a brand-new hospital in south Wales. Why is north Wales always playing second fiddle to south Wales under your Government? And when will people in Conwy and Denbighshire get this vital facility that patients need?

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.