New Health Minister speaks out

Mark Drakeford AM (pictured below right) has been sworn in as Minister for Health and Social Services and has begun looking at the wide range of issues in his portfolio, including NHS reconfiguration, the legislative programme, and the financial position of the NHS in Wales.

On service change, which includes the future of health services in Llangollen, he said: “The process of reconfiguring health services in Wales is underway. My aim is to bring that process to a conclusion so we can move on and ensure services are safe and sustainable for the future.
 

“My job is not to renew the process or interfere with the process underway, but I will bring a fresh mind to decisions that are being made within that process.

 

“What I can promise people is that I’ll consider everything that is on my desk as thoroughly as I possibly can.  I will weigh up the arguments, look at the evidence, and then I will make a decision.”

 

On the legislative programme, he said: “In terms of the Human Transplantation Bill, we will soon receive the Health Committee’s Stage One scrutiny report, which I expect to raise some important questions and issues for discussion.

“I am keen to steer the legislation we have underway to a successful conclusion.”
On NHS finances, he said: “This week I will look in detail at the position Health Boards are in as they come to the end of the financial year. I want to learn the lessons of this year, so I can apply them to next year. I will be looking at the way the money is used, against the pressures the NHS experiences.

“All NHS organisations must work to deliver services within the budget available to them and I want to be fully briefed on their progress.”