Opposition Senedd members accused Wales’ new first minister Eluned Morgan of passing the buck as latest statistics showed that waiting lists have hit fresh record highs.
Mabon ap Gwynfor pointed out that six Labour frontbenchers have held the health portfolio over the past 25 years, including the current and two former first ministers.
The Plaid Cymru shadow health secretary said: “Although we have seen different faces coming and going over the summer, it's the same old story when it comes to the health service.
“Standards going down, waiting times getting longer, staff being pushed to the extreme, and from the government? – nothing but repeated empty promises.”
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Mr ap Gwynfor, who represents Dwyfor Meironnydd, accused ministers of putting the horse before the cart by “fixating” on outcomes without first plotting a credible path.
Leading a Plaid Cymru debate, he criticised Eluned Morgan for pointing the finger at health board executives, saying it typifies a tendency to blame everyone else.
Sam Rowlands, the Conservatives’ shadow health secretary, similarly accused the first minister of passing the buck to NHS executives.
He said: “Health boards have a big job to do to work through these waiting lists but a first minister and a government must not abdicate its responsibility,”
Pointing out that the Welsh Government previously cut the health budget, he urged ministers to spend the full 20 per cent uplift from spending in England on NHS Wales.
Wales’ new health secretary Jeremy Miles told the debate on 18 September that cutting waiting times is at the top of his to-do list after his appointment a week earlier.
Mr Miles told the chamber long waiting times are a result of the pandemic and a decade of austerity which “cast a long shadow”.
The former Welsh Labour leadership contender claimed work to reduce waiting times is having an impact despite financial pressures and a significant increase in demand.
He said: “Long waits of over two years have reduced by 67 per cent since its high point in March 2022, and long waits for diagnostic tests have reduced by almost a third.
“Now, around three per cent of people on waiting lists are waiting longer than two years compared with almost 10 per cent in March 2022.”
The health secretary said the Welsh Government’s recovery plan is driving waits down as he pointed to an extra £900m for the NHS this year and last.