ANGELA BURNS

COLUMNIST

EVERY year we see headlines reporting winter pressures causing additional problems for our NHS.

And every year the Welsh Government pledges to start their planning earlier and commit more resources.

When closures begin, there are statements that the circumstances are exceptional and next year will be different.

Twelve months pass, and the same things happen again.

The cycle is unbroken, and the impact that this approach has on the people it affects is forgotten.

The pressures on our hardworking frontline staff must not be underestimated, and we should praise their dedication in the way they selflessly work extra shifts or work through their break periods to ensure that the patients are always their number-one priority.

Common sense dictates – and history shows – that with harsh weather comes increased demand.

Unsurprisingly, the winter of 2019-20 has not changed the narrative, and those dreaded “winter pressures” have again made the headlines.

As the Shadow Health Minister, I am tasked with holding the Welsh Government and the Health Minister to account, but I feel that I am living through a Welsh version of Groundhog Day.

I could repeat last year’s speech and receive the same promises and assurances from the Minister, but it is a sign of foolhardiness to repeatedly make the same mistake time after time and fail to learn any lessons.

A fresh approach is needed, and instead of tinkering around the edges and committing ever-increasing amounts of money to the problem, we must to find a way of making permanent changes.

This winter has seen my local health board in west Wales cancel elective surgery at all its hospitals for a whole week.

The health board blamed “exceptional pressures”, but it does seem to me that Wales’ NHS suffers from exceptional pressures month in, month out.

It wasn’t just Hywel Dda that reported problems this month, but also the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board serving the north Wales region.

While they did not cancel all non-urgent surgery, they did “adjust the balance of inpatient admissions” and restrict the number of inpatient surgical bookings to five patients per day.

Last month figures were produced showing accident and emergency performance at hospitals in Wales at a record low for the third month running and the Welsh Ambulance Service failing to meet its most urgent response time target for the first time in four years.

In response to the ambulance issues, the Health Minister issued a statement last week setting up a task and finish group on ambulance availability.

But let me be frank. We know what is wrong. Too many beds have been closed, there are not enough step-down beds in the community, there are not enough carers and the “system” is not flexible or intelligent enough to adapt in real time.

This lack of spare capacity can have a major effect on the numbers of patients in the system.

If the discharge of patients was more efficient, it would free up vital beds. If we can’t help people out of hospital, then it is natural that we have to limit the numbers coming in.

This government often talks about pathways to create clearer routes for treatment. However good these ideas appear on paper, in reality they are not always effective.

A good example of this the stroke pathway. Despite the stated procedure, many stroke patients fail to end up in the relevant department, impacting not only on the patient’s treatment but also on other patients accessing A&E.

Decisions need to be taken now, and these decisions need to have a permanent impact, so we do not find ourselves having the same conversations in 12 months’ time.

■ Angela Burns is health spokeswoman for the Welsh Conservatives