³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

The first FMQs of 2023 comes to a close.

Thanks for following - join us again next week.

The Senedd will once again be lit tonight in the blue and yellow colours of Ukraine’s flag as a sign of solidarity with Ukraine and its people.

Image source, Senedd Cymru

The first minister says the critical internal incident declared within Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board on 19 December was because of "rising Covid pressures, rising flu numbers, public concern about strep A, a nurses strike on 20 December and an ambulance strike on 21 December. Declaring an incident of this kind triggers actions designed to reduce the pressures on the system, as seen elsewhere in Wales and across the United Kingdom."

Plaid Cymru's Rhun ap Iorweth says "it does feel to be critical within Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board day upon day, for patients waiting a long time for treatment, for staff who are working under huge pressures and for ambulance workers who've had enough of queuing outside of hospitals".

Asked by his Labour colleague Mike Hedges about what the Welsh Government is doing to improve public transport connectivity, the first minister says the bus system in Wales "over many years has put profitability before passenger need, and that is why this government will bring forward a bus Bill in front of the Senedd to make sure that we have a different approach to the organisation of bus services in Wales - one that allows us to put people before profit and make sure that the extensive sums of money that the public invest in bus services in Wales reflects the public interest."

Image source, WELSH GOVERNMENT

Plaid Cymru's Sioned Williams raises the issue of waiting times for orthopaedic surgery, highlighting a constituent's case "who has been suffering with knee problems for 15 years, and has been waiting for five years, almost to the day, for two partial knee replacements, being in constant pain the whole time, and having had to give up her pub as a result."

"There are people waiting longer than we would wish" acknowledges the first minister.

He says "we are committed to reducing waiting times across the whole of Wales, investing £170 million recurrently to support improvement, and £15 million to support transformation of services. October data demonstrates that waits over two years have reduced by 26 per cent since March 2022 at the Swansea Bay Health Board."

Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price claims a pay offer of 8% is possible for nurses using existing reserves and unallocated funding.

Mr Price says that information obtained from the finance minister proves that Welsh Government has sufficient money to offer a pay increase which is more than 3% above what is currently on the table.

The first minister replies, "it is simply a hard fact that you cannot spend one-off money to pay for recurrent bills".

He adds, "We've put a package of measures together... One element of that package involves the offer of a one-off non-consolidated payment in this financial year. The amount of money that has been brought together for that has been hard won over the Christmas period, in which Cabinet colleagues have all had to look at plans for spending in the final quarter of this year, and agree to ways in which that could be reordered to release money to support that offer."

Andrew RT Davies, leader of the Welsh Conservatives, says "over the last week you've brought forward a proposal and instructed the NHS to discharge patients without care plans and suitable provision within the community when they're discharged. Doctors and health professionals have said that patients could potentially die or come to serious harm. Do you agree with the doctors and health professionals on their assessment of your plans?"

First Minister Mark Drakeford replies "It is utterly irresponsible of him to misrepresent the advice not of the Welsh Government but of the deputy chief medical officer and the chief nursing officer of Wales."

He adds, "I have their letter in front of me and it does not in any way bear out the accusations that the leader of the opposition has just made.

"It refers throughout to safe discharge. But, what it does is to say that the system has to attend to the balance of risk across all of those people for whom it seeks to provide care. We have people, as he well knows and often puts to me on the floor of the Senedd, who are struggling to get access to the front door of this system, often people with very significant needs. At the other end of the system, prior to Christmas, we had 1,200 patients in a health service bed in Wales who were medically fit to be discharged."

Asked by Conservative Altaf Hussain what action is the Welsh Government taking to eliminate multi-year waits for NHS treatment, the first minister replies "in the six months following publication of the planned care recovery programme, long waits in the Welsh NHS have fallen by 23 per cent. That is the result of significant additional investment, expanded facilities, service reform, and, most of all, the enormous effort of NHS staff themselves."

Mr Hussain says "multi-year waits have been around since well before the pandemic, especially in orthopaedics. One of my constituents has been waiting for a total knee replacement since 2019. He has been waiting in agony for three and a half years."

The Llywydd (presiding officer) Elin Jones conducts a ballot to determine the names of members who may table questions to the first minister and Welsh ministers. Each member may enter their name into a ballot.

Conservative Peter Fox expresses concern about the impact of the cost of living crisis on third sector organizations (the voluntary sector).

First Minister Mark Drakeford says "third sector organisations in Wales both provide vital help to others in the cost-of-living crisis and are directly affected by it themselves. We have increased funding to the sector on both counts, most often alongside our local authority partners."

The year begins with the same three leaders at the helm of the main parties as this time last year.

Will that be the case at the end of the year? Time, as always, will tell.

Image source, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ/Getty

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the first session of First Minister's Questions in 2023.

The meeting is held in a hybrid format, with some members in the Siambr (Senedd chamber) and others joining by video-conference.