Clwyd West MS and Shadow Minister for North Wales, Darren Millar, has made fresh calls today for an update on the promised and much-needed North Denbighshire Community Hospital.

Questioning the First Minister in today’s meeting of the Welsh Parliament, Darren spoke of the pressures Ysbyty Glan Clwyd is currently facing and stressed that a new hospital, on the site of the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Rhyl, would help relieve them.

He asked Vaughan Gathing why the people of North Denbighshire are still waiting after 11 years for this new facility, when investment has been made during that time on a new hospital in South Wales.

He said:

“Under Labour, the NHS in North Wales is on its knees: the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board has been in and out of special measures since 2015; there's been a failure to deliver improvements, which has resulted in patients coming to harm; patients are waiting longer than in other parts of the UK for operations and treatments; and we all know that the Glan Clwyd Hospital, which serves the people of Conwy and Denbighshire, has the worst emergency department performance in the country, with one in four people waiting 12 hours or more in A&E. It's totally unacceptable.

“Now, in a bid to address some of these issues, 11 years ago, the Welsh Government promised to build a brand-new hospital in Rhyl to serve the coastal strip, improve access to NHS services and alleviate the pressure on Glan Clwyd.

“It should have been open in 2016, but we're yet to see a spade in the ground, First Minister, and yet, since then, since 2013, you've opened a brand-new hospital in south Wales.

“Why is North Wales always playing second fiddle to South Wales under your Government? And when will people in Conwy and Denbighshire get this vital facility that patients need?”

In his response, the First Minister failed to give any indication as to if/when a new hospital for Rhyl will be delivered.

Speaking afterwards, Darren said:

“This hospital is desperately needed, yet the Labour Welsh Government are clearly in no hurry to deliver it and provide the people of North Denbighshire with the health services they need and deserve.

“Their dismissive responses when I have repeatedly raised this over the years have quite frankly been appalling - it’s like the people of North Wales don’t matter.

“They need to get out of their Cardiff-centric bubble and start delivering for people throughout the whole of Wales.”