Eluned Morgan has 'ideas on how to fix NHS' as waiting lists hit record high
Health Secretary Eluned Morgan has said she believes her work "makes a difference to people's lives every day" and says she is still committed to the job.
It follows the latest performance data for the NHS in Wales revealing the number of individual patients awaiting treatment has reached record highs.
Ambulance response time has almost doubled since pre-pandemic numbers, according to the latest data.
In December, Ms Morgan told ITV Wales that she would "not necessarily" want to remain in her post after a new First Minister of Wales was appointed.
However, last month, Vaughan Gething named her as Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care in his cabinet.
Speaking to ITV Wales today, Ms Morgan said: "I think we're in a position where I do know what the issues are now and I do have ideas on how to fix it. Part of the problem with getting somebody new in is that you do take a while to learn the ropes, so I don't have that learning process now. I can hit the ground running."
She added that she had some "very clear ideas" of how things will change in the future.
"It is a tough job, you do have to make difficult decisions, but you come into politics to make a difference and when you are responsible for 50% of the budget for the employment of 100,000 people you are able to influence. We come in to try and make a difference to people's lives."
She added: "I feel every single day I am making a difference to people's lives. The fact that 2 million people are getting support from the NHS on a monthly basis - I think that's a system that's working."
The comments come as the latest data on Wales' NHS performance data was released on Thursday (18 April). February 2024 data showed around 591,600 individuals on waiting lists for treatment - the highest figure on record.
Patient pathways waiting to start treatment have also increased from just over 754,800 to just over 763,100, the second highest figure on record.
However, patient pathways awaiting diagnostic services decreased to under 111,500 and those waiting longer than eight weeks decreased to the lowest figure since March 2022.
The data also showed that in February of this year, there was a rise in the number of patient pathways exceeding a 36-week wait, totalling around 244,600, noticeably high compared to historical trends.
Patient pathways waiting less than 26 weeks did increase to 56.6%, however, and have remained relatively stable.
Speaking about demand on the NHS in Wales, Ms Morgan said: "We saw the ballooning of the waiting lists during the pandemic - that's what I'm trying to deal with now - and the fact that things like medicines are changing, there are new technologies, new ways of diagnosing people. All of that means there is additional demand.
"The fact that, for example, in the past two years 50% more people are referred for suspected cancer is an incredible increase in demand on the service so all of those things are things that have changed in the past couple of years."
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