Sam Rowlands, Member of the Welsh Parliament for North Wales, calls for an end to the Welsh Labour Government’s ’s chronic mismanagement of the NHS and to fix cancer services.
Mr Rowlands, was speaking in the Senedd during the Welsh Conservatives debate on cancer services.
He said:
It's clear that Welsh Labour have broken the system, where targets are consistently missed and patients are left to suffer unnecessarily. And that's not just us saying that, we're well aware of the Audit Wales report pointing to these failures as well.
The Welsh Labour Government have consistently failed to hit their 75% target for cancer patients starting treatment within 62 days. it's never been hit since that target has been in place. What is the Welsh Government doing about this? What's the point of having these targets in place if they're never going to hit them?
We do need to see, Cabinet Secretary, a clear time frame for when those targets are going to be met. Surely that would be part of the fix to this broken system that we are seeing here in Wales.
Time frames and accountability, though, it seems, are not something that Labour like to have in place. We do need to see much bolder and more ambitious ways of dealing with these targets that need to be met for the good of people up and down Wales.
Audit Wales, as we know, have provided 10 recommendations in their 'Cancer Services in Wales' report, and some of those recommendations include publicly clarifying the status of the cancer improvement plan.
They have also pointed to the need for closer working with the NHS executive, Digital Health and Care Wales, Public Health Wales and NHS trusts to see a more comprehensive set of publicly available data on cancer services. I'm sure, Cabinet Secretary, you'd acknowledge that there is a need for that data to be clearer, so that people like you can hold others to account for the performance of cancer services.
It's those recommendations from the Audit Wales report and others that form part of the fix to a functioning healthcare system that can effectively treat cancer in Wales. Sadly, we know it's the leading cause of death in our country, when four in 10 annual cancer cases in Wales are preventable. That's a shocking statistic.
Out of every 10 cancer cases, four of those are completely preventable, and it's something that we should have a laser-like focus on dealing with.
In North Wales, we have around three oncologists serving every 100,000 older people. It's no wonder they're at breaking point. We also know, down the track, that around 30% of clinical pathologists are set to retire in the next five years, which shows, again, the need for recruitment.
We need to see the system fixed, we need to see recruitment and retention improved, and we need to see an end to Labour's chronic mismanagement to turn this thing around and to fix cancer services here in Wales.
Jeremy Miles, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, said: “It's important to recognise that the sustainability of services will depend on how we can create the capacity to diagnose and treat people within the time frames that we need. This is a challenge being faced across the UK, but I will continue to focus our NHS on improving access to high-quality care so we can achieve the best possible outcomes for everyone facing a cancer diagnosis.”
Mr Rowlands added:
I welcome the report from Audit Wales on cancer services and just hope that the Welsh Labour Government will take serious note and act on its recommendations. The NHS is clearly broken in Wales and it is about time it was fixed.
Sam Rowlands AS yn mynegi pryder am wasanaethau canser yn y Gogledd
Mae Sam Rowlands, yr Aelod o’r Senedd dros y Gogledd, yn galw am roi diwedd ar gamreolaeth gronig Llywodraeth Llafur Cymru o'r GIG ac am drefn ar wasanaethau canser.
Roedd Mr Rowlands, yn siarad yn y Senedd yn ystod dadl y Ceidwadwyr Cymreig ar wasanaethau canser.
Meddai:
Mae'n amlwg fod Llafur Cymru wedi torri'r system, lle mae targedau'n cael eu methu'n gyson a chleifion yn cael eu gadael i ddioddef yn ddiangen. Ac nid ni'n unig sy'n dweud hynny, rydym yn ymwybodol iawn o adroddiad Archwilio Cymru sy'n cyfeirio at y methiannau hyn hefyd.
Mae Llywodraeth Llafur Cymru wedi methu'n gyson â chyrraedd eu targed o 75 y cant o gleifion canser yn dechrau eu triniaeth o fewn 62 diwrnod. Credaf fod un o fy nghyd-Aelodau newydd ddweud nad yw'r targed hwnnw erioed wedi cael ei gyrraedd—nid yw erioed wedi cael ei gyrraedd ers iddo gael ei gyflwyno. Beth y mae Llywodraeth Cymru yn ei wneud am hyn? Beth yw pwynt cael y targedau os nad ydynt byth yn mynd i'w cyrraedd?
Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet, mae angen inni weld amserlen glir ar gyfer cyflawni'r targedau hynny. Mae'n sicr y byddai hynny'n rhan o'r ateb i drwsio'r system doredig a welwn yma yng Nghymru.
Fodd bynnag, nid yw'n ymddangos bod amserlenni ac atebolrwydd yn bethau y mae Llafur yn hoffi eu cael ar waith. Mae angen inni weld ffyrdd llawer mwy beiddgar a mwy uchelgeisiol o ymdrin â’r targedau hyn y mae angen eu cyflawni er lles pobl ledled Cymru.
Mae Archwilio Cymru, fel y gwyddom, wedi darparu 10 argymhelliad yn eu hadroddiad 'Gwasanaethau Canser yng Nghymru’, ac mae rhai o’r argymhellion hynny’n cynnwys egluro statws y cynllun gwella gwasanaethau canser yn gyhoeddus.
Mae Archwilio Cymru hefyd wedi tynnu sylw at yr angen i gydweithio’n agosach â gweithrediaeth y GIG, Iechyd a Gofal Digidol Cymru, Iechyd Cyhoeddus Cymru ac ymddiriedolaethau’r GIG i weld set fwy cynhwysfawr o ddata cyhoeddus ar wasanaethau canser. Rwy'n siŵr, Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet, y byddech yn cydnabod bod angen i'r data hwnnw fod yn gliriach, fel y gall pobl fel chi ddwyn eraill i gyfrif am berfformiad gwasanaethau canser.
Yr argymhellion hynny o adroddiad Archwilio Cymru ac eraill sy'n rhan o'r hyn sydd ei angen i sicrhau system gofal iechyd weithredol a all drin canser yn effeithiol yng Nghymru. Yn anffodus, fe wyddom mai dyma brif achos marwolaeth yn ein gwlad, pan fo modd atal pedwar o bob 10 achos o ganser bob blwyddyn yng Nghymru. Mae hwnnw'n ystadegyn brawychus.
O bob 10 achos o ganser, mae modd atal pedwar o’r rheini’n llwyr, ac mae’n rhywbeth y dylem fod yn canolbwyntio'n agos iawn ar fynd i'r afael ag ef.
Yn y gogledd, mae gennym oddeutu tri oncolegydd yn gwasanaethu pob 100,000 o bobl hŷn. Nid yw'n syndod eu bod ar ben eu tennyn. Fe wyddom hefyd, maes o law, y bydd oddeutu 30 y cant o batholegwyr clinigol yn ymddeol yn y pum mlynedd nesaf, sy’n dangos, unwaith eto, yr angen i recriwtio.
Mae angen inni weld y system yn cael ei thrwsio, mae angen inni weld gwell recriwtio a chadw staff, ac mae angen inni weld diwedd ar gamreoli cronig Llafur er mwyn unioni'r sefyllfa hon a thrwsio gwasanaethau canser yma yng Nghymru.
Meddai Jeremy Miles, Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Iechyd a Gofal Cymdeithasol: “Mae'n bwysig cydnabod y bydd cynaliadwyedd gwasanaethau yn dibynnu ar sut y gallwn greu'r gallu i wneud diagnosis a thrin pobl o fewn y fframiau amser angenrheidiol. Mae hon yn her sy'n cael ei hwynebu ledled y DU, ond byddaf yn parhau i ganolbwyntio sylw ein GIG ar wella mynediad at ofal o ansawdd er mwyn inni allu cyflawni'r canlyniadau gorau posibl i bawb sy'n wynebu diagnosis o ganser.”
Ychwanegodd Mr Rowlands:
Rwy'n croesawu'r adroddiad gan Archwilio Cymru ar wasanaethau canser ac rwy'n gobeithio y bydd Llywodraeth Llafur Cymru yn rhoi sylw priodol iddo ac yn gweithredu ar ei argymhellion. Mae'r GIG yn amlwg yn methu yng Nghymru ac mae'n hen bryd iddo gael ei drwsio.
