We recently marked the 75th anniversary of the National Health Service. Established in the years after World War Two, it was the first health service of its kind in the Western world.
A lot has changed since then. For one, we now have a devolved system. From 1999, the NHS in Wales has been controlled by the Welsh Government in Cardiff – not the UK Government in London.
The Welsh Government has been controlled by Labour for every single second since the establishment of that Welsh Government. The NHS in Wrexham and across Wales is Labour’s responsibility.
It’s fair to say the NHS here is not in great health as celebrates its 75th birthday.
Let’s have a look at some of the ailments. Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board, which oversees us in North Wales, it has been described as “dysfunctional” in a recent report by the Auditor General.
A recent Ernst & Young investigation into the Board showed a rotten culture where highly-paid senior staff were misleading investigators and falsifying documents.
We also know the Board has been in special measures for many years (apart from when Labour took it out just before the last Welsh Parliament elections) with little sign of any concrete improvement.
This past winter, the Board had to declare a critical emergency twice because it simply could not cope with the demand.
Looking at dentistry, it is virtually impossible for new patients in North Wales to get an NHS dentist.
I had previously contacted 69 NHS dentists in our region and spoke to 57 of those practices. In all of North Wales, with a population of 700,000 people, not one NHS dental practice was able to take on new patients, with just four offering a place on a waiting list, likely to be over two years.
Other statistics are just as shocking. The Welsh NHS has 2-year waiting lists of around 30,000.
This number is virtually zero in England and Scotland.
The British Medical Association recently warned that Welsh Labour’s health service is at a ‘risk of collapse’. Incredibly, the Labour Cardiff Government are the only Government across Britain to cut NHS spending in modern times – not the Conservative Government in London.
You have to wonder what the founder of the National Health Service, Labour’s Aneurin Bevan, would have made of this sorry state of affairs.
People are suffering unnecessarily, languishing in pain on horrendous waiting lists and not being able to access the basic care that they need.
Despite Labour’s mismanagement, there is no doubt that the people who work hard in the NHS as doctors, nurses and staff deserve huge credit.
I am proud that my brother and sister are both NHS nurses here in North Wales and they are like many others who have played their part in helping people in our communities when they’re most in need.
For me, the NHS has been brilliant at some important moments; from the births of my three children, to my brother-in-law in intensive care with COVID, right through to those providing the care for my grandparents in their final days.
The vast range of challenges faced and support given by the NHS in Wales on any given day is mind-boggling, and those staff deserve our utmost support.
It’s obvious, however, that patients and staff are not always getting what they need. They are being let down by a government in Cardiff – and we need drastic change to fix the problem.
From founding the National Health Service to running it into the ground, that is the legacy of the Labour Party here in Wales. The evidence to me is clear. We all know what the first step to a Welsh NHS revival is, and that is the removal of Labour from office.
Barn Sam Rowlands – Wrexham.com
Buon ni'n nodi 75 mlynedd ers sefydlu'r Gwasanaeth Iechyd Gwladol yn ddiweddar. Wedi'i sefydlu toc wedi'r Ail Ryfel Byd, hwn oedd y gwasanaeth iechyd cyntaf o'i fath yn y byd Gorllewinol.
Ond mae llawer wedi newid ers hynny. Yn un peth, mae gennym system ddatganoledig erbyn hyn. Ers 1999, mae'r GIG yng Nghymru wedi'i reoli gan Lywodraeth Cymru yng Nghaerdydd - nid Llywodraeth y DU yn Llundain.
Mae Llywodraeth Cymru wedi'i rheoli gan y Blaid Lafur o'r cychwyn cyntaf. Llafur sy gyfrifol am y GIG yn Wrecsam a ledled Cymru.
Mae'n deg dweud nad yw iechyd y GIG yma ar ei orau, wrth ddathlu ei ben-blwydd yn 75 oed.
Beth am gael golwg fanylach ar ambell anhwylder. Mae Bwrdd Iechyd Betsi Cadwaladr, sy'n ein goruchwylio ni yma yn y Gogledd, wedi cael ei ddisgrifio fel un "camweithredol" mewn adroddiad diweddar gan yr Archwilydd Cyffredinol.
Dangosodd ymchwiliad diweddar Ernst & Young i'r Bwrdd fod yno ddiwylliant pwdr lle'r oedd uwch staff ar gyflog uchel wedi camarwain ymchwilwyr a ffugio dogfennau.
Hefyd, rydyn ni'n gwybod bod y Bwrdd mewn mesurau arbennig ers blynyddoedd lawer (ar wahân i'r adeg pan wnaeth Llafur dynnu'r Bwrdd o'r mesurau hyn ychydig cyn etholiadau diwethaf Senedd Cymru) heb fawr o arwydd o welliant pendant.
Y gaeaf diwethaf, bu'n rhaid i'r Bwrdd ddatgan argyfwng critigol ddwywaith am na allai ymdopi â'r galw.
O safbwynt deintyddiaeth, mae bron yn amhosibl i gleifion newydd yn y Gogledd gael deintydd GIG.
Dwi eisoes wedi cysylltu â 69 o ddeintyddion y GIG yn ein rhanbarth a siarad â 57 o'r practisau hynny. Ledled y Gogledd, gyda phoblogaeth o 700,000 o bobl, nid oedd un practis deintyddol y GIG yn gallu derbyn cleifion newydd - a dim ond pedwar yn cynnig lle ar restr aros, sy’n debygol o fod dros ddwy flynedd.
Mae ystadegau eraill yr un mor frawychus. Mae tua 30,000 ar restr aros o 2 flynedd yn GIG Cymru.
Mae'r nifer hwn bron yn sero yn Lloegr a'r Alban.
Rhybuddiodd Cymdeithas Feddygol Prydain yn ddiweddar fod gwasanaeth iechyd Llafur Cymru mewn 'perygl o chwalu'. Yn anhygoel, Llywodraeth Lafur Caerdydd yw'r unig Lywodraeth ar draws Prydain i dorri gwariant y GIG yn y cyfnod modern - nid y Llywodraeth Geidwadol yn Llundain.
Mae'n rhaid i chi feddwl tybed beth fyddai sylfaenydd y Gwasanaeth Iechyd Gwladol, Aneurin Bevan o'r Blaid Lafur, wedi ei wneud o'r sefyllfa dorcalonnus hon.
Mae pobl yn dioddef yn ddiangen, mewn poen parhaus ar restr aros erchyll ac yn methu cael gafael ar y gofal sylfaenol sydd ei angen arnynt.
Er gwaethaf camreolaeth Llafur, does dim dwywaith bod y bobl sy'n gweithio'n galed yn y GIG fel meddygon, nyrsys a staff yn haeddu pob clod.
Rwy'n falch bod fy mrawd a'm chwaer ill dau yn nyrsys y GIG yn y Gogledd, a'u bod nhw fel sawl un arall wedi cyfrannu at helpu pobl yn ein cymunedau, lle mae'r angen mwyaf.
I mi, mae'r GIG wedi bod yn wych ar rai adegau pwysig; o enedigaethau fy nhri phlentyn, i ofal dwys fy mrawd-yng-nghyfraith gyda COVID, drwodd i'r rhai wnaeth ddarparu gofal i fy nain a’m taid yn eu dyddiau olaf.
Mae'r ystod eang o heriau sy'n wynebu'r gwasanaeth a'r cymorth sydd ar gael gan y GIG yng Nghymru yn aruthrol, ac mae'r staff hynny yn haeddu ein cefnogaeth lwyr.
Er hynny, mae'n amlwg nad yw cleifion a staff bob amser yn cael yr hyn sydd ei angen arnynt. Maen nhw'n cael eu siomi gan lywodraeth yng Nghaerdydd - ac mae angen newid brys arnom i ddatrys y broblem.
O sefydlu'r Gwasanaeth Iechyd Gwladol hyd nes ei ddifetha, dyna etifeddiaeth y Blaid Lafur yma yng Nghymru. Mae’r dystiolaeth yn glir. Rydyn ni gyd yn gwybod beth yw'r cam cyntaf i adfywio'r GIG yng Nghymru, sef cael gwared ar y Blaid Lafur fel y blaid sy’n llywodraethu.
