Welsh NHS: Eluned Morgan says she will cut NHS waiting times

Wales’ first minister has vowed to cut waiting times and boost education standards in her first major statement on how she will run her government.

Eluned Morgan outlined her priorities between now and the next election in 2026, promising to create jobs to tackle the climate crisis, to improve transport and fix roads.

But the first minister, who took over from Vaughan Gething in August, told the Senedd that the Welsh government cannot “do everything”.

Opposition parties criticised the first minister’s statement for lacking substance and for being “light” in explaining how she would achieve her goals.

The first minister’s promise comes amid a row with NHS chief executives after she said she would hold them to account over waiting times.

The boss of the Welsh NHS Confederation, Darren Hughes, said he was “disappointed” with Morgan who he said was “confrontational”.

Last August’s waiting times figures hit record levels, with those waiting longest increasing.

Morgan’s statement on her priorities did not include any targets.

But she said a “comprehensive list of what will be delivered by when and by whom” will be developed over the next few weeks.

“We can’t do everything – so we are setting priorities,” Morgan told the Senedd.

“We will cut NHS waiting times, including for mental health: we’ll improve access to social care and improve services for women’s health.”

Alongside the UK government she said her government would “create jobs that not only tackle the climate crisis but help make families better off and restore nature. We will accelerate planning decisions to grow our Welsh economy”.

The former health minister said her government “will boost standards in our schools and colleges, and provide more homes for social rent, ensuring every family has the chance to succeed”.

Morgan also vowed to “transform our railway and deliver a better bus network”, in what appeared to be a reference to the government’s Metro project, and its delayed bus franchising plans.

Morgan also said she would “empower local communities to make choices” on the 20mph speed limit – councils are currently reviewing which roads are exempt from the speed limit.

There was no list in the statement of what the Welsh government would not be doing or might cut.

However it did not mention some parts of the Welsh government’s responsibilities, including arts and culture funding, agriculture.

It also followed a decision on Monday to scrap plans for gender quotas in Senedd elections.

The first minister said “tough decisions lie ahead” and “we must prioritise government’s limited time and resources”.

However, she added that the Welsh government had the “best opportunity in more than 14 years to realise our ambitions for Wales”.

Morgan promised more “transparency” for the public, “so taxpayers know where things are going well and where there is room for improvement”, and said her Delivery Minister Julie James had been appointed to drive change in government.

The first minister says she drew up her priorities for government after speaking to “hundreds of people in every corner of Wales”, and after 7,000 responded to a party survey.

She said she had a “clear message”, with health, social care, the economy and growing the economy among people’s top priorities.

Opposition parties were unimpressed by the statement.

Andrew RT Davies, Welsh Conservative Senedd leader, said it was the “lightest first minister’s statement I’ve seen at the opening of a Senedd term”.

He said it was “light” on the way the initiatives would be delivered, and said the Welsh government had missed “every target to get those waiting times that have proved so stubbornly high”.

“What does the first minister believe in her role as first minister she can do to push those waiting times down that she couldn’t do when she was health minister?” he said.

Both he and laid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth highlighted that agriculture was not discussed by the first minister.

Ap Iorwerth said similarly it was a “very, very thin” statement from the first minister.

He said the result of the summer listening exercise, “as we’ve been told today, surprise, surprise, was that health and education and the economy were the top priorities”.

“Goodness me, if a party that’s been leading Welsh government for 25 years hadn’t realized that those were the priorities, then we’re in deeper trouble with Labour than I thought”.

By Gareth Lewis, BBC Wales political editor

We now know what the priorities are, even though there are not really any shocks on the list. But we are still not clear how the FM proposes to deliver them.

A plan for that – and targets – were missing from today’s statement.

There was some expectation management again, with a warning of limited time and resources – although opposition parties would argue that any problems that need fixing are of Welsh labour’s own making.

The FM had revealed earlier during FMQs that a conversation has started with Keir Starmer about a review of the Welsh financial position.

Ultimately Eluned Morgan will be judged at the 2026 Senedd election on how she delivers these priorities, with or without the prime minister’s help.