SO, THE chief executive of the NHS in Wales says, “we are in good shape” – really?

In Andy Rutherford’s report there is no explanation to patients who have waited on trollies, waited for an ambulance and faced the situation of being in an ambulance when the local hospitals cannot take them for admission because there is not a bed for them.

Where is the defence of the front line staff who take the criticisms and yes, sometimes abuse from sick patients and naturally frightened relatives? Where is the explanation to the support relatives of patients being cared for ‘in the community’ – in their own home with barely basic care and no respite support? Where does he address the ongoing press criticism of the ambulances waiting outside the A & E departments? Where is the acknowledgement of low staff morale? Above all there is no recognition whatsoever that there is a lack of capacity to care for the most vulnerable.

Mr David Sissling’s reported comments are, in my opinion, corporate management gobbledygook and fail with distinction to be straightforward to openly identify the real issues and put forward real and honest solutions.

It is time – now, before more people suffer to repair the NHS from the ongoing legacy of Thatcher’s very near destruction and for the politicians to give a genuine commitment that is adhered to in the patients’ interest and not use it as an artificial vote winning tactic.

Nigel Pearce Risca