NHS patients promised two-year waits to be 'eliminated' in 'matter of months'

The Welsh government has vowed to wipe out the longest waits patients face in the country's health service in "a matter of months".

First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth said action has started now to tackle two-year waits, while his health minister said they will be "eliminated".

Neither ap Iorwerth or Mabon ap Gwynfor gave a precise definition of how long it would take, with ap Gwynfor saying it would be "a matter of months".

The commitments come as Reform's Dan Thomas told the Plaid Cymru leader to give his "full attention" to the NHS, accusing him of being more interested in international matters and independence.

Latest figures for March show that just under 2,600 people are waiting more than two years - a statistic that had fallen for the tenth month in a row.

Rhun ap Iorwerth came under pressure over NHS waits on Tuesday in a historic First Minister Questions, the first to be taken in the Senedd by a non-Labour first minister.

Reform UK's Dan Thomas put it to the first minister that he and ap Gwynfor had said different things about two-year waits.

"During the election campaign, you said that two-year waits could end in a matter of months, but your new health minister has said it will happen within four years," he said.

He said in England such waits had been "virtually eradicated some time ago, which proves that ending two-year waits can be achieved".

Ap Iorwerth said: "Listen, I've made it very, very clear that there are two elements to what we're trying to do.

"I reiterate that a priority for us now is to tackle, in the coming months, those issues of the longest two-year waits."

Thomas said ap Iorwerth had highlighted the "non-devolved matter of international relations as being within your remit as first minister, an area which enjoys a £9m budget". He said the money should be spent on the NHS.

The Welsh government maintains a network of international offices, which it uses to promote Welsh businesses abroad.

Later he added that the Plaid leader should give his "full attention to the NHS and to focus on the day job".

Later, in his first statement to the Senedd, Mabon ap Gwynfor said: "We will see two year waits eliminated within a matter of months."