12 hour waits at A & E are "exceptional" - First Minister

This ridulous quote was made by our First Minister who stated that these waits were "unfortunate but not exceptional". His Health Minister, Lesley Griffiths, was even more direct. "The hypocrisy of the Tories knows no bounds....." ( huh ? )..."with the rapidly deteriorating situation - due to Tory mismanagement and cuts - ......." ( double huh ? ). What world is she living iin ? What has she been smoking, that she can imagine that her Labour government have NOT been responsible for ALL the cuts made to the Health Service in Wales - or did she forget that Health has been a devolved issue since the creation of her malfunctioning Welsh Assembly ?

As a father and grandfather ( nine times over ), I have spent a considerable amount of time in A & E with children who are either bleeding, running a high temperature with a rash, or trying to cope with the pain of a broken arm or leg or a dislocated elbow. In addition, I have also been taken to A&E by ambulance, only to be told that "my case wasn't urgent because my bad heart wasn't the problem". So, from 4.00pm until 7.30am the following morning I had to sit in a chair in A&E, in February, wearing only the pyjamas in which I was taken to hospital, as an emergency.
Now, to be fair, the children were always been seen within four hours, but me and a lot of other adults have spent more that 12 hours in A&E and then 24 hours, on a trolley in the Assessment unit. And, if you want to see regular 12 hour waits in a hospital unit, visit Llandough hospital any evening because, since they 'modernised' the assessment unit - by removing all the beds - patients of all ages get treated to an uncomfortable chair for at least a night. No good trying the same experiment at UHW ( University Hospital of Wales ) because the doors are blocked with ambulances waiting to unload.

"Disturbing picture" of 12 hour waits at A&E ? Absolutely correct, thanks ( for once ) to the Freedom of Information Act. "Unfortunate but exceptional ?" Sorry Carwyn, you're wrong again, and Leslie Griffiths should try to get work by queueing in line at a Job Centre in Damascus where misinformation is a way of life. R. W.