The NHS celebrates its 75th anniversary today (July 5, 2023) amid a backdrop of record waiting times. But “there will be no NHS in 75 years without urgent and drastic action,” Plaid Cymru has warned.

 NHS staff have also been on strike over pay and conditions – some for the first time – earlier this year. 

Paying tribute to the NHS and its founding principle of providing health free at the point of need to all who need it, Plaid Cymru’s Health and Social Care spokesperson Mabon ap Gwynfor warned that “thirteen years of Tory cuts and twenty-four years of Labour mismanagement” had left the service on “life-support”.

The Plaid Cymru MS warned that the NHS might not survive for another 75 years without “drastic action”.

 Mr ap Gwynfor said Plaid Cymru’s five point plan could help tackle the crisis in the NHS in Wales – offering both immediate and longer-term solutions including tackling waiting times, investing in social care, and implementing a workforce plan to recruit and retain more doctors and nurses:

  1. Pay: Providing a fair deal for NHS workers to create the foundations for a sustainable health and care service.
  2. Workforce Retention: Making our NHS an attractive place to work.
  3. Prevention: Significantly elevating the prominence and priority given to preventative health measures.
  4. Health and Social Care Interaction: Taking a sustainable approach to ensure a seamless move from health care to social care.
  5. Delivering the Recovery: Creating a resilient health and care service fit for the future.

Plaid Cymru Spokesperson for Health and Social Care Mabon ap Gwynfor MS said:

“Seventy-five years ago, the NHS was born in Wales – leading the way in providing healthcare to all free at the point of need.

“Plaid Cymru is immensely proud of our NHS and the dedicated frontline staff who have provided invaluable service and care for the past 75 years. They are the backbone of our healthcare system – without them there is no NHS.

“But thirteen years of Tory cuts and twenty-four years of Labour mismanagement has left it on life-support, with poorer health outcomes and a burnt-out workforce.

“Waiting times are at record levels. Health boards are stuck in special measures. Staff and patients are at breaking point. Our NHS won’t survive another seventy-five years without urgent and drastic action. 

“Plaid Cymru has a vision for a better NHS.

“We would prioritise providing a fair pay deal for NHS workers and implement a workforce plan to recruit and retain more doctors and nurses by making our NHS an attractive place to work.

“We would prioritise preventative health measures and ensure a seamless move from health to social care to tackle waiting times.  

“We would restore trust between patients and our NHS by putting an end to chronic mismanagement. 

“Together, we can rebuild our NHS, making it fit for purpose: a fairer, stronger and better health and social care system in Wales, free at the point of need to all who need it – from the cradle to the grave.