Ceredigion’s AM Elin Jones has criticised Welsh First Minster Carwyn Jones for his outspoken attack on Labour MP Ann Clwyd.

The First Minister condemned Ms. Clwyd in the Assembly this week, after the MP raised questions over the state of the NHS in Wales, saying that she had produced no evidence to support her claims. Ms. Clwyd has compiled a report on the NHS in England, based on the experiences of patients and relatives who wrote to her.

Elin Jones warned last week, in a speech to Plaid Cymru’s spring conference, that the war of words between the Labour Government in Cardiff and the Tory-Lib Dem coalition in Westminster was threatening to undermine public confidence in the NHS.

Elin Jones, AM for Ceredigion and Plaid Cymru Shadow Health Minister, said:

“I know many people from Ceredigion who wrote to Ann Clwyd with their experiences of the health service. The First Minister’s attack isn’t just on Ann Clwyd, but it’s effectively dismissing the experience of hundreds of patients.

“The tone of the debate on the NHS between Labour in Cardiff and the Tories and Lib Dems in Westminster is becoming increasingly poisonous. It’s a blame game for political ends, with Westminster politicians using any tactic to talk down the Welsh NHS, while the Welsh Government hit back and attack Ann Clwyd without taking responsibility for the situation.

“This does nothing to address the problems in the NHS while undermining public confidence in the service.”