- Welsh Conservatives have consistently campaigned for improvements to alarming Ambulance response times in South Wales East. As recently as December 2008, the Ambulance service in Gwent recorded its worst ever performance against Government targets with all five Gwent Local Health Board areas – Newport, Torfaen, Monmouthshire, Blaenau Gwent and Caerphilly recording response figures that missed the Assembly Government target of 60% responses being made within 8 minutes by a disturbing margin. Over 80% of emergency calls were reached outside the target time in Torfaen in December with Welsh Conservatives most prominent among the political parties in drawing attention to a service that appeared to be in critical condition owing principally to unrealistic targets and excessive bureaucracy.
The marginal improvement in response times in January 2009 still fell well short of the target, and do little to allay fears that regional member William Graham AM has highlighted in talks with the Health Minster that the Ambulance Service is dealing with considerable staffing problems and making little headway with tackling excessive handover times at hospitals, particularly at the Royal Gwent.
(In Newport in January, 49.8 per cent of emergency calls were reached within eight minutes compared to 31.2% for December. In Torfaen 39.9% were reached inside eight minutes. Similarly Monmouthshire’s 50.6% was a considerable improvement on the previous 30.5% for an area that has been blighted by poor response times since the inception of the Assembly and the source of concerning tales about ambulances getting lost on course to patients in rural areas of the constituency.)
- Welsh Conservatives in South Wales East have been vocal critics of the Welsh Assembly Government’s failure to deliver the improvements to hospital services in the area that were set out in the Clinical Futures Programmes.
The observations made by Welsh Conservatives that the programme was unworkable and would lead to worsening morale amongst Gwent Healthcare staff have been confirmed by Rhondda Cynon Taf Local Health Board Chairman Dr Chris Jones whose recent investigative report concludes that more behind the scenes work is required to ensure the programme can deliver the improvements.
The centrepiece of the Clinical Futures Programme, a flagship 450 bed £282 million specialist and Critical Care Centre (SCCC), was put on hold on January by Assembly Minister for Health and Social Services, Edwina Hart. Worsening financial forecasts for the NHS in Wales are clearly the main reason for the Government’s delaying the hospital, which Gwent NHS leaders had controversially hoped would open during 2013/2014, on a site near Cwmbran currently partially occupied by the Hospital at Llanfrechfa Grange.
With the SCCC shelved, regional Assembly Member William Graham has warned the Assembly Government that it must ensure investment in existing facilities is maintained at key locations such as the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport and address the problems that have arisen through delivering health care in buildings that are old and unfit for purpose.
- Welsh Conservatives have led calls improvements to the traport infrastructure in South Wales East, gaining extensive media coverage for their campaign to strengthen the region’s road and rail links in the wake of a number of serious accidents and heavy congestion on the M4 north of the Newport area.
Having previously been vocal in calling for the Ebbw Vale to Cardiff rail service, local AM William Graham has spelt out the importance of the proposed Newport- Ebbw Vale link being operational in time for the Ryder Cup in Newport and National Eisteddfod in Ebbw Vale in 2010. However, despite the number of passengers using the Ebbw Vale to Cardiff link exceeding all expectations, the Assembly Government has failed to provide any assurance that the Newport-Ebbw Vale link will be running in the foreseeable future. While the Assembly Government announcement in September that an investment of up to £2.6 million will be used for rail and signalling improvements that will mean that all work necessary for a link between Ebbw Vale and Newport will be completed by 2010, the First Minister has conceded that there is guarantee that a service will be operational by that time.’
The Assembly Governmeea is typified by the fact that the work improving safety barriers on the M4 is expected to run until 2012, likely to disrupt commuters and harm Gwentnt has been characteristically sluggish in making progress on the M4 Relief Road with Ministers evading Opposition questions that seek confirmation of the rumour that the long planned and much needed M4 relief road is to be shelved in favour of expanding the Southern Distributor Road in Newport. The fact of the matter remains that had the Conservatives achieved victory in 1997 General election we would be driving on an M4 relief road today. Instead Labour at both Westminster and Cardiff Bay has put tax payers money into pet projects that have achieved no discernable return. The Assembly Government must pay greater attention to the demands of local road users to ease traffic flow, just as the Conservative led Newport Council have done in removing bus lanes in the city to popular acclaim. The Assembly Government’s poor grasp of transport issues in the ar businesses. The speed restrictions and delays could well run into traffic going to the region’s forthcoming prestigious events in 2010 – Ryder Cup in Newport and Eisteddfod in Ebbw Vale.
- William has gained considerable press exposure for his campaigning on the issue of fly-tipping in Gwent. Clearing illegally deposited rubbish from Gwent is costing taxpayers around £500,000 every year. William has drawn particular attention to the huge amounts of waste left at the corner of the A48 in Marshfield and the fact that over 70 tonnes of waste has been dumped in Monmouthshire to date this year, costing over £60,000 to clear up. William has campaigned for existing laws to be more strongly enforced, for example the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003, which gives local authorities power to stop, search and seize vehicles suspected of being used for fly-tipping.
William has been a leading voice in the campaign against road charging. Gwent business people who rely on the roads will be hardest hit. William has criticised the plans as being the ‘Government refusing to acknowledge its key responsibilities’.
See more recent key issues:
SHOCKING WELSH AMBULANCE SERVICE CRISIS WORSENS (DEC 2006)
UNDER LABOUR’S LEADERSHIP THE HEALTH SERVICE GOES FROM BAD TO WORSE (DEC 2006)
