Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Healthcare Services

Wednesday 24 May 2023 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Luke Evans asked the UK Government about discussions with the Welsh Government regarding healthcare services in Wales, where over 31,000 people are waiting more than two years for treatment.
  • Luke Evans questioned the UK Government on the commitment to an agreement between devolved nations to share data for adequate comparisons in healthcare systems.
  • The UK Government acknowledged the need for comparable data to understand issues in the health service in Wales, citing the 31,000 people waiting over two years for treatment.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Luke Evans Con Hinckley and Bosworth
NHS Wales
Context

Discussions on the adequacy of healthcare services in Wales have been raised due to ongoing issues with patient wait times.

Question

What discussions has he had with the Welsh Government regarding the adequacy of healthcare services in Wales, given that over 31,000 people are waiting more than two years for treatment?

Answer from David Davies

Healthcare services are devolved to the Welsh Labour Government. However, it is deeply worrying that only last week the Welsh Government revealed their target for people waiting more than two years for treatment has once again been missed, with over 31,000 people waiting in pain over two years for their treatment. In England, which has virtually 20 times the population, the equivalent figure is virtually zero.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The answerer did not provide details on any discussions with the Welsh Government but instead highlighted a discrepancy between healthcare wait times in Wales and England.

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Q2 Luke Evans Con Hinckley and Bosworth
NHS Wales
Context

The need for comparable data to improve healthcare systems has been highlighted as a challenge due to differing metrics used by different legislators.

Question

Given the importance of comparing data for improving healthcare systems, will the UK Government commit to an agreement between the devolved nations to share the same data so that adequate comparisons can be made?

Answer from David Davies

My hon. Friend makes a very good point: we do need comparable data so that we can see exactly what is going wrong in the health service in Wales. From the data that we have, we already know about the 31,000 people who have been waiting more than two years in pain for treatment. We also know that the Welsh Government have a copy of the EY report into what has gone wrong in the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board—a report that they are sitting on and trying to hold secret because it points out that over £100 million was misspent by the health board under a Welsh Labour Government.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The answerer did not commit to an agreement for comparable data but instead criticized the Welsh Government's handling of reports and data.

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