In a Welsh Government press release, committing Wales to become a ‘Marmot nation’ and adopting the ‘eight Marmot principles’, a Labour Minister has said that: “Becoming a Marmot nation is about acknowledging that health inequalities are mostly shaped by the social determinants of health.”
Welsh Conservatives have labelled this pursuit a “divisive distraction for the NHS” and an “excuse” for Welsh Labour’s poor health record over 26 years in control of the Welsh Government.
Commenting, James Evans MS, Welsh Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care said:
“Talk of ‘tackling racism’, ‘pursuing environmental sustainability’ and ‘health equity’ are divisive distractions for the NHS. The priority should be tackling Labour’s long waits for treatment.
“The Welsh Conservatives are more interested in tackling the ultimate inequality, which is the poorest health record in the UK, as a result of 26 years of Welsh Labour failure, from which Ministers are clearly trying to excuse by blaming ‘social determinants’.
“Under Labour in Wales, you are five hundred times more likely to be waiting over two years for treatment than in England. That is unacceptable and must be addressed through the declaration of a health emergency to direct the full apparatus of Government at the problem.”
