Keir Starmer says Welsh NHS needs reform

The NHS in Wales “desperately” needs reform, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said.

Asked if Welsh Labour had run the health service well, he said “there are challenges… I’m not going to pretend to you otherwise”.

His comments came on the day that waiting lists hit a record high in Wales for the sixth month in a row.

Sir Keir has described the NHS in England as “broken”, but refused to say the same about Wales, despite some waiting times being worse.

Cutting waiting times has been named as a top priority by new First Minister Eluned Morgan.

Earlier this week she said reform was necessary, “but it’s difficult to do that when you’ve got long waiting lists that have to be our priority at the moment”.

In a BBC Wales interview ahead of the Labour conference, the prime minister said he and Morgan had discussed the state of the health service.

“I think what we need to do is to roll up our sleeves, collaborate, share best practice and bring about not just the investment but the reform that is desperately needed across the delivery of health, whether that’s in Wales or elsewhere,” he said.

Wales’ health service has been overseen by Labour-led governments since devolution in 1999.

Sir Keir was asked if his party’s Welsh government had done a good job with the NHS during a quarter century in power.

But he simply said: “There are challenges that need to be met, there’s no doubt about that and I’m not going to pretend to you otherwise.

“My job with the first minister is to work together to rise to whatever challenges there are and opportunities across Wales and I’m determined to do so.”