Prudent Healthcare and Robust Planning

Plans pay off for winter, says Minister

“Significant  Improvements”  in a number of areas during the winter due to robust planning by NHS staff, Health Minister says.

No coincidence in the date of publication – APRIL 1^ST – APRIL FOOLS DAY !

The article states that Minister Drakeford was giving evidence to the Health and Social Care Committee* that the NHS was able to withstand the winter months. It could only be an April’s Fools joke because we didn’t have a severe winter at all, nor did we have any outbreaks of the usual Flu variants that hit us during the typically freezing weather conditions of snow, slush or black ice.

In other words, we didn’t have the “Unprecedented demand on our health services” that are typically made on our NHS, because we had the mildest winter for decades.  Therefore, there was no need for the Minister, or Dr Graham Shortland to trot out their usual excuses for the failures of our emergency services during the winter months.

Sadly, it was just an April joke, because the ambulance service, and their patients, suffered long waits outside A&E and even longer waits for insufficient hospital beds.  The only change was that the complaints were confined to a few excellent letters in the local press, that couldn’t be ignored.  Yes, even with a mild winter, our emergency services were overstretched, especially at Cardiff and Vale University Hospital Cardiff which was transformed into a building site at A&E where accessibility to even-more inadequate services was being reduced. During this period, I was sent to UHW with chest pain and experienced the chaos of trying to get chronically ill patients inside for treatment.

Instead of throwing out all his usual B.S. ( business statistics, of course ), our dear Minister should have been addressing the matter of the thousands of patients who have been waiting over 36 months to see their hospital consultant.  These figures – revealed in previous posts – show the truth of our health service in crisis.  Meanwhile all that Carwyn Jones can shout is that “It’s that lot over there wanting the NHS to fail !” Unfortunately, we are cursed with an opposition who are frightened to press there case.  But why do they shirk their duty – after all the NHS and education will be issues 1 & 2 respectively, in all forthcoming elections. Perhaps the electorate will have more intestinal fortitude, and will vote this venal government   out of office ?      R.W.

*A privilege that he denied to his senior colleague, Ann Clwyd MP. Precisely when will the First Minister’s rabble allow this fine lady to Present her irrefutable evidence – What’s he afraid of – the TRUTH ???