THE head of the Royal College of Nursing in Wales has said the current situation in the health service is ‘completely unacceptable’ and that things ‘need to change in 2024’.

Helen Whyley, director of the RCN in Wales, told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast the health service was "at a very difficult point" as it entered the new year.

"It's completely unacceptable that we have such large pressure in the system with patients waiting to be cared for," she said.

"We've had two weekends where a bank holiday falls on a Monday, and that's always a difficult time for our services.

"We've got to stop thinking about what we're doing with the symptoms and start thinking about the problem. So, why have we got so many people in A&E? Why is our capacity in various areas not good enough?

"We know the answers to some of [those questions] and we have to invest in that."

Live data provided by the NHS shows that current time spent in A&E at Bronglais Hospital is 4 hours and 15 minutes with Ysbyty Glan Clwyd in north Wales having a typical time spent of 10 hours and 15 minutes.

Responding to comments made by Helen Whyley, Plaid Cymru Health Spokesperson and MS for Dwyfor Meirionnydd, Mabon ap Gwynfor, said: "The new year should herald a change of approach and respectful dialogue between the Health Minister and those who represent our much-valued NHS staff.

“Instead, the Minister has again demonstrated a dismissive attitude to the legitimate concerns of the RCN - whose members know better than anyone the acute pressures on the NHS' front line. If we want to see the NHS functioning properly for the people of Wales then the workforce should be shown the respect they deserve with improved pay and working conditions.

Like the RCN, Plaid Cymru has long argued that the Labour Welsh Government's sticking plaster solutions do not and will not work. Whilst the Welsh NHS is being starved of money by the Tory austerity agenda at Westminster it is also being let down by Labour mismanagement in Wales."

Montgomeryshire MS and Welsh Conservative Shadow Minister for Health, Russell George, said in response: ““Our Welsh NHS is on the brink of a disastrous 2024, with excessive waiting lists, strikes and staffing pressures.

“The Labour Welsh Government is still underfunding our Welsh NHS by not providing it the full uplift for health from the Conservative UK Government.

“The Welsh Conservatives would reverse the Labour Government’s political decision to prioritise costly vanity projects like creating more politicians over fully resourcing our Welsh NHS.”

Concerns have also been raised over planned strikes later this month by junior doctors in Wales.

Junior doctors in England have gone on strike today, with their Welsh counterparts planning a 72 hour walkout from 7am on the 15 January to 7am on the 18 January as they fight for better pay.

Mr George added: “The Welsh NHS and Welsh patients cannot afford another round of strikes.

“The Conservative UK Government has put forward a more generous offer to junior doctors in England than Labour has in Wales.

“Labour should scrap their expensive vanity projects and pay doctors properly instead.”