0:00:01 > 0:00:03Welcome to Wales Today.
0:00:03 > 0:00:06Patients here are still waiting longer than those in England
0:00:06 > 0:00:07for key treatments.
0:00:07 > 0:00:12Tonight, we ask the Health Secretary if he takes responsibility.
0:00:12 > 0:00:15And Melanie Woodcock was sent to prison for not
0:00:15 > 0:00:16paying her council tax.
0:00:16 > 0:00:24The High Court rules she was unlawfully jailed.
0:00:34 > 0:00:35Good evening.
0:00:35 > 0:00:40Patients needing hip replacements in Wales wait, on average,
0:00:40 > 0:00:41three times longer than in England.
0:00:41 > 0:00:45Latest figures show that waiting times in the Welsh NHS still lag
0:00:45 > 0:00:49behind in most of the key categories for treatment and diagnosis.
0:00:49 > 0:00:56But, there has been a big reduction in the wait
0:00:56 > 0:00:58for heart by-pass surgery.
0:00:58 > 0:01:00The Health Secretary has admitted the length of some
0:01:00 > 0:01:02of the waits is unacceptable and reform is needed.
0:01:02 > 0:01:08More from our Political Editor Nick Servini.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11Ab with her dog at home in Newquay in Ceredigion.
0:01:11 > 0:01:1382-year-old Margaret Brazier can now enjoy a short walk
0:01:13 > 0:01:20thanks to a hip replacement operation last year at nearby wrong
0:01:20 > 0:01:23hospital.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26It was cancelled four times but she eventually had the
0:01:26 > 0:01:27surgery after waiting six months.
0:01:27 > 0:01:29You are on tenterhooks waiting for the phone
0:01:29 > 0:01:30to ring, waiting for a
0:01:30 > 0:01:33letter when you are going to be able to come in
0:01:33 > 0:01:35and you have got pain in
0:01:35 > 0:01:36your groin.
0:01:36 > 0:01:38It's difficult to walk.
0:01:38 > 0:01:40Just a very frustrating.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43Your life is virtually on hold.
0:01:43 > 0:01:46Official figures from last year show she
0:01:46 > 0:01:49wasn't alone.
0:01:49 > 0:01:52The main statistical bodies for the NHS have found that
0:01:52 > 0:01:54patients in Wales waited significantly longer than in England
0:01:54 > 0:01:56in seven out of the 11 categories.
0:01:56 > 0:02:02And the biggest gap was in hip operations, where the average Welsh
0:02:02 > 0:02:09wait was 226 days compared to 76 in England.
0:02:09 > 0:02:11Elsewhere, waits for a hernia operations in Wales were
0:02:11 > 0:02:13120 days compared with 43 in England.
0:02:13 > 0:02:17Cataract waits in Wales were 107 days compared with 58 in England.
0:02:17 > 0:02:25But it wasn't all bad.
0:02:25 > 0:02:27Cancer waits were broadly the same as in England
0:02:27 > 0:02:29and there was a dramatic fall in the length
0:02:29 > 0:02:30of time patients wait for
0:02:30 > 0:02:32heart bypass surgery in Wales.
0:02:32 > 0:02:34It is very frustrating to see that things
0:02:34 > 0:02:35aren't better but it is no surprise.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38Everyday we can see the pressure that the hospitals are under when we
0:02:38 > 0:02:40are working there.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43You can see the pressure that the emergency services
0:02:43 > 0:02:46and doctors and nurses are under in managing the demand
0:02:46 > 0:02:47for emergency care.
0:02:47 > 0:02:50The Welsh government has come under fire from opposition parties
0:02:50 > 0:02:53who say the figures are scandalous and in particular hit
0:02:53 > 0:02:57the elderly the hardest.
0:02:57 > 0:03:05The Health Secretary Vaughan Gething admits some of the
0:03:05 > 0:03:07waits are unacceptable but says there needs to be change because
0:03:07 > 0:03:10the current structure in the NHS is unlikely to deliver the waiting
0:03:10 > 0:03:11times people want.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14Do you take responsibility?
0:03:14 > 0:03:17These people are in pain for months longer than they
0:03:17 > 0:03:19would be if they lived the other side of the border.
0:03:19 > 0:03:21Not everyone who waits deals with pain and
0:03:21 > 0:03:23discomfort.
0:03:23 > 0:03:29Not everyone who waits and waits in pain but some people do
0:03:29 > 0:03:34and for lots of people there is anxiety that goes
0:03:34 > 0:03:36with the wait for treatment and I have got
0:03:36 > 0:03:40responsibility overall as a politician for the whole system
0:03:40 > 0:03:42and I don't try to hide from that.
0:03:42 > 0:03:44My job is to make the case for a public
0:03:44 > 0:03:47service that delivers high-quality care and the improvements that all
0:03:47 > 0:03:50of us would wish to see.
0:03:50 > 0:03:54There are no easy answers to figures like
0:03:54 > 0:03:58these but political pressure on ministers would be to throw even
0:03:58 > 0:04:01more money at hospitals like this one but that creates even more
0:04:01 > 0:04:08pressure from other public services that already feel starved of cash
0:04:08 > 0:04:11because of demands from the NHS, and then there is the growing
0:04:11 > 0:04:12realisation that simply throwing money
0:04:12 > 0:04:14at it is probably not the
0:04:14 > 0:04:15long-term answer anyway.
0:04:15 > 0:04:17All the recent attention has been on winter
0:04:17 > 0:04:20pressures but they rise in emergency admissions has a big knock on for
0:04:20 > 0:04:24the time it takes to treat patients elsewhere.
0:04:24 > 0:04:26And those preparing for planned operations are often the
0:04:26 > 0:04:33ones who suffer.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36Publication of a long-awaited report into the scandal-hit Tawel Fan ward
0:04:36 > 0:04:38at Glan Clwyd Hospital is to be delayed again.
0:04:38 > 0:04:42The mental health ward in Bodelwyddan was closed
0:04:42 > 0:04:45in December 2013, after an inquiry found some patients had been treated
0:04:45 > 0:04:49"like animals."
0:04:49 > 0:04:51This comes after the release of another
0:04:51 > 0:04:53document, suggesting the Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board
0:04:53 > 0:04:57was at risk of failing to comply with laws
0:04:57 > 0:04:59designed to protect vulnerable people.
0:04:59 > 0:05:01The Board says it's working on measures to reduce risks.
0:05:01 > 0:05:03We have taken the opportunity to put things right.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06We are not waiting, obviously, for the historic report.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09I would say all the evidence we have got and everything I have seen and
0:05:09 > 0:05:12people I have spoken to say we are giving
0:05:12 > 0:05:19a good quality of care to
0:05:19 > 0:05:20people.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23We do not always get it right, and that is for sure, but
0:05:23 > 0:05:27people can feel when they come in here we give them the kind of care
0:05:27 > 0:05:30and attention and treatment anybody would want to have and I certainly
0:05:30 > 0:05:31want anybody to have.
0:05:31 > 0:05:32A woman from Porthcawl who was unlawfully jailed
0:05:32 > 0:05:35for failing to pay her council tax says she will never recover
0:05:35 > 0:05:40from her time spent behind bars.
0:05:40 > 0:05:42Melanie Woolcock is calling for a change in the law
0:05:42 > 0:05:45after being sentenced to 81 days in prison for failing
0:05:45 > 0:05:47to pay ?10 a week towards a debt of ?4700.
0:05:47 > 0:05:51She was released half-way through her jail term
0:05:51 > 0:05:52after a charity took up her case.
0:05:52 > 0:05:53Caroline Evans reports.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56Melanie Woolcock is currently juggling two jobs, running a shop
0:05:56 > 0:06:00and delivering takeaways.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03As single mother, she says trying to make ends meet
0:06:03 > 0:06:08pushed her into debt but she was paying it off.
0:06:08 > 0:06:10I fell behind roughly about ten weeks, realised that,
0:06:10 > 0:06:14and then paid ten weeks in one go but the day I paid the money,
0:06:14 > 0:06:20a warrant had been issued to arrest me for nonpayment
0:06:20 > 0:06:25so it was too late for me to do anything about it.
0:06:25 > 0:06:33I think it's wrong that if you are struggling with a bill,
0:06:33 > 0:06:37that you are sent into a prison full of criminals.
0:06:37 > 0:06:39When I have never committed a crime in my entire life,
0:06:39 > 0:06:42never even had a parking ticket.
0:06:42 > 0:06:46And yet they are able to take you into prison
0:06:46 > 0:06:49for nonpayment of a bill.
0:06:49 > 0:06:53Yesterday a High Court judge ruled she had been unlawfully jailed.
0:06:53 > 0:06:59The lawyer who represented her says most cases of this type which go
0:06:59 > 0:07:01before the High Court are quashed.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04We have won the case in front of the High Court
0:07:04 > 0:07:08because there was no adequate enquiry into means or investigation
0:07:08 > 0:07:16into alternate custody.
0:07:16 > 0:07:20It is approximately 90% or thereabouts of cases that
0:07:20 > 0:07:24are quashed by the High Court and it is very unusual in any system
0:07:24 > 0:07:27to see that number of decisions to be found subsequently
0:07:27 > 0:07:32unlawful or excessive.
0:07:32 > 0:07:35She only got help because while in prison she found a magazine article
0:07:35 > 0:07:40on council tax debt and wrote for help from a charity.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43The author of that article says the impact of such sentences
0:07:43 > 0:07:45on families already struggling financially is terrible and wants
0:07:45 > 0:07:47an end to imprisonment for all types of civil debt.
0:07:47 > 0:07:52Two people a week go to prison unlawfully so it is a small number
0:07:52 > 0:07:55compared with all the Magistrates' Courts dealing with all the council
0:07:55 > 0:07:59tax debt but in terms of the human cost, it is very serious.
0:07:59 > 0:08:09Prisons are not places for people who have financial difficulty,
0:08:10 > 0:08:12prisons are there for serious offenders who have committed crimes
0:08:12 > 0:08:21and caused great damage so it is two people a week and this,
0:08:21 > 0:08:25I believe, should be stopped.
0:08:25 > 0:08:33Bridgend Council, which was owed the money, says they have a legal
0:08:33 > 0:08:36responsibility to collect unpaid council tax but offer help to anyone
0:08:36 > 0:08:37experiencing difficulty and prosecution is always
0:08:37 > 0:08:38a last resort.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41"We understand that the resident in this case was jailed
0:08:41 > 0:08:42"after failing to meet the requirements of
0:08:42 > 0:08:45"the suspended sentence issued by the Magistrates' Court", they say.
0:08:45 > 0:08:47Melanie says she will never recover from her experience.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50I was in a prison with, you know, paedophiles,
0:08:50 > 0:08:54murderers, arsonists.
0:08:54 > 0:08:58Not my scene at all.
0:08:58 > 0:09:00She is now working with university law departments to try
0:09:00 > 0:09:05and change the law.
0:09:05 > 0:09:10Ministers in Wales need to be given confidence their views on Brexit
0:09:10 > 0:09:12are making a difference, according the Welsh
0:09:12 > 0:09:15Finance Secretary.
0:09:15 > 0:09:21Mark Drakeford was speaking after a joint committee on Brexit,
0:09:21 > 0:09:23set up by the UK Government, met for the first time
0:09:23 > 0:09:26since Theresa May said the UK should leave the European single market.
0:09:26 > 0:09:28This is meant to be a fundamental forum.
0:09:28 > 0:09:30It was referenced by the Prime Minister in her speech
0:09:30 > 0:09:34and I feel that we need to be given confidence by the UK Government
0:09:34 > 0:09:36that we are not simply here to express our views
0:09:36 > 0:09:40but that those views go on and make a difference.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44Even the Welsh Government accepted today that the language
0:09:44 > 0:09:46the Prime Minister used earlier this week about a free-trade
0:09:46 > 0:09:50agreement with the European Union is not inconsistent
0:09:50 > 0:09:52with the language they have talked about so this demonstrates
0:09:52 > 0:09:55there is a lot of common ground but I am not underestimating
0:09:55 > 0:09:58the challenges that are there.
0:09:58 > 0:10:06A billion pound investment plan for south-west Wales that
0:10:06 > 0:10:08would boost digital technology for energy and healthcare projects
0:10:08 > 0:10:09is close to being approved.
0:10:09 > 0:10:12The Swansea Bay city region deal aims to create thousands of jobs
0:10:12 > 0:10:15and attract a further ?2 billion of investment over 15 years.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17Swansea council says it hopes an agreement with UK ministers can
0:10:17 > 0:10:24be reached by the end of February.
0:10:24 > 0:10:31Two men and a woman have been arrested after an incident
0:10:31 > 0:10:33in the Cathays area of Cardiff.
0:10:33 > 0:10:35Armed officers were called to Miskin Street at lunchtime.
0:10:35 > 0:10:39Police said the road was closed to safeguard the public.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42After battling everything the ocean has thrown at him -
0:10:42 > 0:10:44sailor Alex Thomson is set to receive a hero's welcome tomorrow
0:10:44 > 0:10:46morning as he finishes second in the Vonday Globe,
0:10:46 > 0:10:49the solo round the world yacht race.
0:10:49 > 0:10:56The 42-year-old, who was born in Bangor,
0:10:56 > 0:10:59was bidding to become the first non-French winner.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02But his push for glory petered out after his auto-pilot failed.
0:11:02 > 0:11:04His family say they can't wait to be reunited.
0:11:04 > 0:11:05I can't wait!
0:11:05 > 0:11:07I'm so excited about seeing him.
0:11:07 > 0:11:11I have spoken to him and been in contact but actually seeing
0:11:11 > 0:11:13him is totally different and I cannot wait.
0:11:13 > 0:11:16Just so proud and every time I think of him crossing that
0:11:16 > 0:11:19line and coming down the canal I get very, very emotional.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22Now there's some sunshine on the way to look forward to.
0:11:22 > 0:11:26Here's Derek with the forecast.
0:11:26 > 0:11:30If you're fed up the grey and gloomy weather there is a change on the way
0:11:30 > 0:11:32and most of us should enjoy someone winter sunshine tomorrow.
0:11:32 > 0:11:37Tonight, cloud in the north, some drizzle, otherwise dry,
0:11:37 > 0:11:40clearer elsewhere and that means a colder night with some frost,
0:11:40 > 0:11:44one or two mist and fog patches too.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47Tomorrow starts with some cloud in the north but that tends to clear.
0:11:47 > 0:11:51Elsewhere, some frost and one or two fog patches.
0:11:51 > 0:11:59Otherwise many places bright and sunny.
0:11:59 > 0:12:05Across the rest of the UK, cloudy for most of Northern Ireland
0:12:05 > 0:12:11and the north of England and southern Scotland.
0:12:11 > 0:12:12Spots of drizzle.
0:12:12 > 0:12:14Elsewhere, dry and plenty of sunshine across the south
0:12:14 > 0:12:17and some sunshine also for the north and north-east of Scotland.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20Closer to home it should be a lovely afternoon.
0:12:20 > 0:12:24Fine, bright, lots of winter sunshine.
0:12:24 > 0:12:28Temperatures lower than today and feeling a bit chilly.
0:12:28 > 0:12:30A light to moderate breeze.
0:12:30 > 0:12:32Tomorrow night, dry, the sky is clear and that means
0:12:32 > 0:12:35a widespread frost and one or two freezing fog patches and some low
0:12:35 > 0:12:37cloud later in the night.
0:12:37 > 0:12:40Cold and generally dry on Saturday.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44Some low cloud, some mist and a few fog patches.
0:12:44 > 0:12:47The best of the sunshine likely in the north.
0:12:47 > 0:12:51Sunday, more dry weather, cloudy for some of us but a few
0:12:51 > 0:12:55places will see the sun.
0:12:55 > 0:12:59A little bit on the chilly side but at least the wind will be light.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02Monday, high pressure still over the UK which means a dry
0:13:02 > 0:13:08and settled start next week, but there is a change on the way
0:13:08 > 0:13:12and it becomes windy with rain by Thursday and turning milder.
0:13:12 > 0:13:14Good night.
0:13:14 > 0:13:16We're back with updates into Breakfast from around 6.25.
0:13:16 > 0:13:17But that is Wales Today.
0:13:17 > 0:13:25From all of us on the programme, good night.