Adrian Browne,Wales political reporterand
Mark Palmer,Wales politics assistant editor
Welsh Parliament hopefuls have clashed on the state of the NHS and the cost of expanding the Senedd in a live debate ahead of next May’s election.
Conservative Tory Giffard said his party would “declare a health emergency”, putting the “whole focus” on cutting waiting lists.
Delyth Jewell said Plaid Cymru would bring in an “executive triage service” to see patients more efficiently, and elective care hubs while Reform’s Llyr Powell called the number of staff leaving the NHS “scary”, saying training and recruitment needed looking at.
Labour minister Jane Bryant said her party in government had “put extra investment” into the health service and wants “to eradicate all those two-year waits”.
Put to Bryant, the Welsh government’s Housing and Local Government Secretary, that the health service has repeatedly missed targets, she said staff are working “incredibly hard to get through the backlog of waits”.
“People are being seen and they are being seen regularly,” she said.
Wednesday’s hour-long Walescast debate in Newport was streamed live on iPlayer and broadcast later on One.
Audience member Leigh Richards asked the panel: “How do you plan on bringing the horrendous waiting lists down?”
The numbers waiting for treatment remain stubbornly high in Wales, despite extra Welsh government investment.
The number of two-year NHS waits in Wales is around 8,000 which is substantially higher than across the border in England, where two-year waits have largely been eliminated.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has previously spoken about the NHS being free at the point of use alongside “major reforms”.
Delyth Jewell, Plaid Cymru deputy leader and MS for South Wales East, accused Farage of wanting to privatise the service, a claim which was rejected by Powell.
“We are not going to do it,” he insisted.
Llyr Powell came second to her party in the recent Caerphilly by-election.
The seat had previously been held by Labour since its creation more than a century ago.
“We are not going to do it,” he insisted.
Plaid’s Jewell and the Tories’ Giffard clashed on the increased number of Senedd politicians at the next election.
There will be an extra 36 MSs – up from 60 to 96 from next May.
The Senedd Commission, the body which runs the Welsh Parliament, says its spending plans for 2026-27 include £12.7m to cover the salaries and costs associated with the extra 36 MSs and their staff.
It will contribute to a 21% total rise from £83.8m in 2025-26 to £102.7m in 2026-27.
Giffard, shadow counsel general and Conservative Senedd member for South Wales West, said that Plaid Cymru had Labour “over a barrel” after the last election and got them to agree to millions for the expansion of the Senedd.
“Talk about the wrong priorities when we’ve got the longest waiting lists, the worst educational outcomes and the weakest economy anywhere in the UK,” he said.
Jewell responded: “This is not about getting more politicians for the sake of more politicians – Wales is the most under-represented nation in the UK.”
“We have lost eight MPs, we have far fewer political representatives per head compared to Northern Ireland or Scotland.
“This is about making sure the laws that get passed get passed properly”, she added.