
Last Updated: 6 days ago
Wales’ First Minister has defended Finance Minister Mark Drakeford’s controversial comments about Welsh hospitals, sparking heated exchanges in the Senedd.
During plenary discussions, Conservative Paul Davies questioned the First Minister about Drakeford’s statement: “If you’re asking me, if I had a blank sheet of paper and could just do the things I think needed to be done, we would have fewer hospitals in Wales… We have too many hospitals and too many beds.”
The First Minister stood firmly behind her cabinet colleague, emphasising that Drakeford’s comments were hypothetical. “Let me just be clear that we are not going to be closing hospitals in Wales. What the finance secretary was alluding to was if he had a blank piece of paper we would not be starting from here,” she stated.
She outlined the administration’s vision: “We want to see a shift back into communities, we want to see far better use of digital, and we’re also all aware that there are around 1,000 people in our hospitals every week who are ready to leave but they can’t leave because we need that care in the community.”
The exchange grew tense when Davies suggested the administration planned to close more hospitals, prompting an immediate and forceful denial from the First Minister. 🏴