The Welsh NHS budget is facing an extra £207m to cover rising energy costs this winter, the health minister has warned. Eluned Morgan also admitted running the health service next year without additional funding from the UK Government will be "hell on earth".
Speaking on BBC Wales, the health minister said the extra energy spending is more than the £170m a year the Welsh Government pledged to "transform" planned care. Her comments came on the day the Welsh NHS recorded some of its worst ever performance figures.
According to the Welsh Government, more than 750,000 patient "pathways" were waiting for planned operations and procedures in August, the most on record, and nearly a quarter of people on the list have been on it for 12 months or more. However, the number of people waiting more than two years has dropped slightly for the fifth month in a row.
