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We don't need Tory bilge on our NHS

ROY JONES says attacks on the health service in Wales from top Conservatives are biased and unhelpful

In what seems a weekly ritual David Cameron, when under attack over an aspect of the NHS in England, counters any criticisms by launching a tirade of abuse at the NHS in Wales and the Labour administration in Cardiff.

Answering a planted question from the Tory MP for Bristol North West he claimed that "the NHS in Wales is not being properly managed, properly funded or properly reformed."

It's not an uncommon ploy for those on weak ground to say: "If you think we're bad, look at them!"

In this case he had the bonus of being able to blame Labour as well as the Welsh.

Tories are masters of this art when taxed with incompetence. In the case of the NHS in England this incompetence is huge. The service there is going into freefall as Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt seeks to sell off the best bits to his big business friends.

It was no surprise that recently on Question Time in Newport Tory MP for Broxstowe Anna Soubry went to town on this theme when a member of the audience was critical of the Welsh NHS.

She poured scorn on Welsh politicians and, by inference, Welsh NHS staff, with scant evidence of knowing anything about the country. The staff, already under pressure, will be put under more by relentless attacks from politicians.

It's a shame that Plaid's Meironydd Nant Conwy MP Elfyn Llwyd couldn't refrain from joining in the attack without any nod to his constituents working in the NHS in Wales. He picked out some operations where England had a better record of treatment than Wales.

The fact is that working out whether the NHS serves the public better in England or Wales is practically impossible given the vastness of the service, the number of patients, the myriad of treatments for injuries and diseases and the many specialist services.

Comparisons are odious and in any case generally unhelpful. Only a bit of data is taken - how many hips have been replaced, say - and is then used to back opinions which are subjective, unconsidered and biased.

A youngish woman drew applause when saying that because of her "past and present" poor experiences of the NHS she "would not like to grow old under it."

Well, me and my wife Gladys have done just that. Over the 20 years since retirement it has played a significant part in our lives.

With its help we have come through pretty well. It has monitored and treated my diabetes and both of us have undergone successful operations at one time or another.

We have tested the effectiveness of the NHS here in most of its aspects. GPs, hospitals and specialist services all come into play in the ageing process.

I'm not saying it's perfect. One serious blot was a failure to diagnose a foot fault that meant pain for a number of years before it was identified and cured.

And I'd say hospitals are scruffier, and trained and auxiliary staff have less time, and therefore show less attention to detail, than they used to.

The health and treatment - two different things - of the populace is an issue, but the solutions need to be sought according to Welsh criteria.

We need to overcome the legacy of work-related illnesses endemic in mining and heavy industry. We have to deal with deprivation, poor housing and dietary problems. Other industrial areas of Britain share these problems, of course.

The plight of Wales's rural workforce, which scrapes a living but a poor one from the land, mirrors these problems.

On top of this the NHS in Wales and local authorities face horrendous cuts to medical and care services imposed on them by Westminster, and are expected to improve services.

In trying, tempers have become frayed and clear thinking is in short supply.

To surmount these and other impediments to a healthy and well-treated society Wales must look to a future where there is more money for health and it is more fairly distributed.

Our annual "allowance" is determined by the Chancellor and the Treasury in London, to a formula generally accepted to be short of what Wales warrants if the residue of yesteryear's problems are to be met and the future faced.

But there seems to be a lack of Welsh Labour AMs and MPs standing up to Cameron and his cronies - that is, standing up for Wales. Are they camera-shy? On Question Time the defence of our NHS was left to a London Labour MP, Rushanara Ali. She tried valiantly. But we should be speaking for ourselves.

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