£2.4 m Pledged to Reduce Cardiac Surgery Waiting Times

Investment pledged after doctor’s group finds ‘substantial work to do’

Once again, our First Minister has committed several Terminalogical  inexactitudes about the so-called improvements that have been made in Wales with many public services. It is a shame that Sir Winston could not have enjoyed a titter or two by listening to Carwyn Jones’ Annual Report.

Certainly, in my area of expertise – NHS Wales - , and in my capacity as a patient advocate, I am not obliged to follow the niceties of Parliamentary protocol.  With regard to the groundless claims of improvements in NHS Wales ( and the spurious figures quoted ) I can safely suggest that he fits the adage “There are Lies, Damn lies, and Statistics”.  We mustn’t forget that his Health Minister, Puffessor Prudence Drakeford ( of Prudent Healthcare fame ) has an excellent knowledge of the last word in the adage, but is a bumbling amateur with the first two parts. Still if he keeps on trying for a few more years, he may succeed in reporting some accurate figures to his Lord and Master that will enable that strutting bully-boy to sound as if he gives a damn.

Whereas this article purports to report ‘Good News’, it fails miserably because of the usual absence of any meaningful information.  Examples are timescales for rates of reductions in waiting lists, who is going to achieve these improvements, and when will we be able to be told  ( honestly ) how these many reductions in the cardiac surgical waiting list have been achieved using the £2.4m if, and when, it actually becomes available ? Of course, If our incompetent and uncaring Ministers can’t answer these important questions, perhaps Mr Adam Cairns may care to provide this data, without the usual accompanying B.S.  It is an unfortunate fact that, if the actual reductions are only equal to the daily additions to the waiting list, sending patients to hospitals far and wide will be an exercise in futility – not forgetting the waste of £2.4 m is what appears to be a bad attempt at believable Public Relations. And - a year after the damning report by the Royal College of Surgeons - why did it take so long for the Health Board to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT???      R.  W.