First minister admits north Wales NHS 'not a pretty sight'
Welsh First Minister Eluned Morgan said north Wales' health board is "not a pretty sight" while defending Labour's handling of the NHS in a live Q&A with voters.
Criticism of Wales' health service dominated the second BBC Wales' Your Voice Live: Ask the Leader programme on Wednesday evening ahead of the Senedd election.
Morgan made the admission after audience members told her of difficult experiences they had with NHS services provided by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board.
Reform's Dan Thomas said after 27 years of Labour government, the Welsh NHS was "a symbol of failure". Anthony Slaughter, leader of the Greens in Wales, said the NHS was "crumbling and services are stretched beyond belief".
Morgan said Betsi was "not a pretty sight".
The health board is Wales' largest, but has been beset by serious problems since it was established in 2009, spending most of its existence in special measures - the highest level of Welsh government oversight.
"I'm absolutely clear about that and that's why we put them into special measures. That's why the Welsh government have people sitting in Betsi Cadwaladr, booking people in, making sure that they do their job properly," Morgan said.
"We don't run the NHS directly. We appoint health boards to make sure that that happens."
The three leaders faced questions from an audience of voters in Llandudno.
Morgan heard two examples of bad experiences with the local health board.
One student told her she has epilepsy and had medication refused to be issued to her after she moved.
A man said he was in Ysbyty Glan Clwyd for 22 hours after he suffered a heart attack - and had been in a cupboard before getting on to a ward.
Morgan said it hurt her to hear to hear those stories, but that the spending "taps had been turned on" in funding from Westminster since Labour won the 2024 general election, allowing improvements including reductions in the numbers of patients waiting for treatment.
Morgan said she was "absolutely" ready "to take accountability and responsibility" for the NHS.
"One of the real challenges for us, not just here in north Wales, but also in west Wales, the area that I represent, is actually recruiting specialists to work here," she said.
"And that's why I was really pleased that what we've done is to open a new medical school in north Wales, because that is more likely to attract specialists to come and work here in north Wales."
Reform UK's leader in Wales, Dan Thomas, said the Welsh NHS was "on its knees".
"And it's really sad. It is sad because Wales is the birthplace of the NHS, but now the NHS in Wales is a symbol of failure."
He said "after 27 years of Labour government propped up by Plaid" the money was there for the NHS to "turn it around" but "it's badly run because there are no consequences for failure by the senior management".
"There's a leadership and management problem in the NHS," said Thomas.
"We've got this health board [Betsi Cadwaladr] now where we are in special measures, twice, the ministers down at Cardiff Bay are not taking accountability.
"They're not showing leadership. And what you'll have in the Reform government, led by me, is somebody who will hold the health chiefs to account."
Thomas was also keen to stress that he was, in his words "captain of the Reform ship in Wales", rather than UK leader Nigel Farage being at the helm.
Asked by presenter Nick Servini if he would stand up to Farage, Thomas replied: "I'll stand up for Wales, absolutely."
"I am in charge, and my only boss is the people of Wales," he said.
Wales Green Party leader Anthony Slaughter said the NHS was "crumbling and services are stretched beyond belief".
He said it was time to "stop the scandal of corridor care" and more money had to go to primary care services, such as GPs and dentists.
When questioned on where more NHS money would come from, he said his party had not been in government previously and had not had access to official budgets and data to provide full costings.
When challenged further on costings, Slaughter said: "What kind of fool thinks you can put a four year economic budget plan in place in a world of Trump and Putin?
"We've just seen the latest effect so putting together a fantasy four-year budget is a waste of time."
Slaughter confirmed that he would like to introduce rent controls to help bring down living costs.
If in power, the Greens would freeze rent before giving councils powers to apply caps on what tenants pay.
When challenged on the policy, he said: "It has worked in some places. It hasn't worked as well in other places.
"That's why we're calling for a rent freeze for one year, just to give people some breathing space."
An audience member asked where Slaughter stood on the issue of single sex spaces - he was accused of not wanting to follow the Supreme Court ruling on the legal definition of a woman.
They also accused him and Plaid Cymru of not wanting to follow the Equality Act.
Slaughter said the Greens want to see "a youth gender service" and NHS Wales "write their own advice".
"There is some dispute about the equalities act at moment," he claimed.
"What matters to me the most is human beings, people. And I hate the fact that people's lives are being turned into a culture war.
"Young vulnerable people are being turned into political footballs by bad faith actors," he added.
This was the second of two Your Voice Live programmes with party leaders ahead of the Senedd election on 7 May.
The first, broadcast on 8 April, featured the Plaid Cymru, Welsh Conservative and Welsh Liberal Democrat leaders.
