First Minister’s Questions reveals A&E waiting room improvement fund is not yet addressing the issue
On the 11th of October this year, £2 million was allocated to improve conditions in A&E departments across Wales by the Health Minister. Money that the First Minister admitted, at FMQs, was not making a difference yet. Mark Drakeford also revealed the median wait time in A&E was 2 hours and 50 minutes, seemingly touting this as a success as opposed to a figure that needs addressing.
Commenting on the exchange, Welsh Conservative Leader Andrew RT Davies MS said:
“In October, £2 million was announced to improve the conditions of A&E waiting rooms, this was meant to be rolled out and ready for the Winter months. The First Minister admitted to me today that the money isn’t even out the door.
“It is clear that conditions are particularly bad at the Heath Hospital, which we saw over the weekend. Wales’ largest A&E department saw vomit near the entrance and a pile cigarette butts on top of the bins.
“The First Minister seemed to bat away those criticisms and blame ‘a significant minority’ of patients for these issues. In my view the Labour Government need to pull their finger out and address these basic issues and tackle the substantial waiting times in our health service.
“We need to get Doctors and consultants into A&E departments across Wales to meet the staffing baseline as set out by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine. Mark Drakeford could not answer the question whether or not that baseline was being met, which we argue would make our Hospitals safer.”
