26 January 2023 – today’s press releases

  • Welsh Government Not Monitoring GP Waiting Times
  • HMRC and Zahawi investigation: Sunak must rule out a stitch up
  • £220,000 Johnson bailout fund for “cost-of-lying crisis”

Welsh Government Not Monitoring GP Waiting Times

  • Information obtained by the Welsh Liberal Democrats shows the Welsh Government has no idea how long waiting times for GPs are across Wales.
  • The Welsh Liberal Democrats claim this hinders the Welsh Government’s ability to see where resources should be directed to help local health boards.

The Welsh Government is not collecting data on how long GP waiting times are across Wales according to information uncovered by the Welsh Liberal Democrats. This is despite the data being collected across the border in England.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats are calling for a legal right to see a medical practitioner within 7 days or within 24 hours if in urgent need. The policy would be enshrined into law, putting a duty on the government and health service to make sure it happens. It would be achieved through increasing training places for GPs and Advanced Practitioners, fixing pension rules to prevent so many doctors retiring early, and launching a recruitment and retainment drive to encourage those who’ve left the NHS to return.

Figures published for England by NHS Digital on Appointments in General Practices including time between booking date and appointment date showed a stark postcode lottery when it came to getting access to a GP. With no equivalent figures available for Wales, the Welsh Liberal Democrats have stated the same regional inequalities could be taking place, but the Welsh Government is unable to identify them, and thus unable to plan properly how to deal with them.

Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds MS said:

Across Wales there are simply far too many people reporting that they are struggling to get a GP appointment, yet unless the Welsh Government starts to collect data like that seen in England we will have no idea just how bad the problem and where to direct resources to solve it.

People shouldn’t be left waiting anxiously for the care they deserve. Such delays can lead to missed or delayed diagnoses, or people going to A&E out of desperation.

This is not to mention the fact that treatments for illnesses that have been allowed to advance without early intervention are more costly to our overstretched health system

Welsh Labour have promised year after year to solve the problem in the Welsh healthcare system, yet they aren’t even monitoring what is a major challenge for so many.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats would guarantee people a right to a GP appointment within one week, this may seem like the bare minimum, but for so many in Wales it is not currently happening. This would reduce pressure on our hospitals and paramedics, saving crucial time and money elsewhere in the NHS.

HMRC and Zahawi investigation: Sunak must rule out a stitch up

The Liberal Democrats have called on Rishi Sunak to rule out a stitch up in the ethics adviser’s inquiry into Nadhim Zahawi’s tax affairs, by confirming that HMRC will be given permission to assist the investigation.

It comes after the chief executive of HMRC Jim Harra told the Public Accounts Committee today he’d be willing to support the inquiry if Zahawi gives his permission.

Jim Harra also stated that there would be “no penalties for innocent errors,” implying that if Zahawi did pay a penalty, he did not make an innocent error in his tax affairs.

Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper said:

Rishi Sunak must rule out another Conservative Party stitch up. If Nadhim Zahawi refuses to allow HMRC to assist in this inquiry, Sunak should sack him on the spot.

The public are sick and tired of toothless investigations letting Conservative ministers off the hook.

Nadhim Zahawi must also finally come clean on whether he did pay a tax penalty, and if so how that could possibly be consistent with his previous claims this was a careless error.

£220,000 Johnson bailout fund for “cost-of-lying crisis”

Responding to the news that the Government has now budgeted £222,000 to support Boris Johnson’s defence against allegations he misled Parliament, Liberal Democrat Chief Whip Wendy Chamberlain MP said:

While the British people battle with a cost-of-living crisis, this Conservative Government seems more interested in helping Boris Johnson with his cost-of-lying crisis. This is a sleazy new low for this Government, dragging politics into the gutter.

People will be outraged that hundreds of thousands of pounds of their money will be used to defend a lying lawbreaker who disgraced the office of Prime Minister.

Rishi Sunak needs to step in immediately, stop this fund and apologise for his Government’s chaotic track record of defending the indefensible.

Read more by or more about , , , or .
This entry was posted in News and Press releases.
Advert

6 Comments

  • Just i case anybody missed it : latest poll on Brexit today by Sir John Curtice :

    56% against Brexit now whilst 32% support it.

    3:06
    NOW PLAYING
    Sir John Curtice on Peston: Have Leave voters changed their opinion on Brexit?

    The UK in a Changing Europe

    1.4K views
    Join Robert Peston for a late-night political magazine show featuring big interviews with the country’s leading politicians, topical guests, and the best political gossip. Sir John Curtice.

    Official Lib Dem stance seems to be missing the bus.

  • Mel Borthwaite 27th Jan '23 - 7:57am

    Unfortunately, as we have now left the EU, the question that needs to be testing in opinion polls is ‘Do you support joining/rejoining the EU?’. I do not believe support for that proposition will be as high as the number now claiming they regret Brexit.

  • Barry Lofty 27th Jan '23 - 9:00am

    It seems that Jeremy Hunt believes that Brexit will enhance the Uk,s economy by expanding new technologies, if course these new industries would not be there as members of the EU? As Wendy Chamberlain infers, what the UK needs is a government with some honesty and and integrity and common sense about our dealings with our close allies.

  • David Raw – there was also this BBC article:
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-64331920

    “The reluctance to talk about Brexit has given Labour “cover” to stay away from the issue too, argues pollster Sir John Curtice – and left the Lib Dems without an obvious offering to voters”.

  • Daniel Howitt 28th Jan '23 - 9:01am

    Although there are many ardent pro EU members in here, I don’t think neither the EU or the UK want to go back To as before relationship. I personally do not want to be in a EU in a similar construct as USA and the rise of the right wing in the EU is a warning that neither does a percentage of the EU population. So maybe we need time to figure out what we want, be it a better trading etc.
    What I have noticed that there was no mention of the complete fiasco of the Trans vote in Scotland where the SNP came unstuck after a convicted rapists nearly ended up in a Woman Scottish Prison after saying he is now a woman. A protection that I argued was a must and Kin Dems including Alex and Caron argued was not necessary…..funny that

Post a Comment

Lib Dem Voice welcomes comments from everyone but we ask you to be polite, to be on topic and to be who you say you are. You can read our comments policy in full here. Please respect it and all readers of the site.

To have your photo next to your comment please signup your email address with Gravatar.

Your email is never published. Required fields are marked *

*
*
Please complete the name of this site, Liberal Democrat ...?

Advert

Recent Comments

  • Mohammed Amin
    I fail to understand the basis for Samuel Jackson's objections. He clearly believes in local democracy. Calderdale Council is the elected body with responsib...
  • John Marriott
    Yes, I have to agree that some people in Israel and on the US evangelical right appear to be getting what they want. Sadly, in their opposition to the creation ...
  • Cllr Donna Harris
    Huge congratulations, Roderick, on all your efforts, success and for working cross-party on this important issue! As Leader of the Opposition in Lambeth, we ...
  • John Marriott
    @Samuel Jackson They missed a trick there then. Where are the barricades?!...
  • Samuel James Jackson
    Hi John Marriot, I would like to clarify that proposals for the Sowerby Bridge incinerator does not include plans for electricity generation....