I do not believe that Offa’s Dyke is the line between life and death. I think that is a most unfortunate turn of phrase. Can I say that there have been huge pressures on the NHS, across the whole of the UK, over the past few weeks, and that is true of Wales, England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland? I want to pay tribute to the NHS staff, who have dealt, in difficult circumstances, with those pressures, and their dedication and professionalism is very much to be commended. It is right to say that there has been great pressure on A&E. The difficulty with A&E is that it is a demand-led service, and it can be quite difficult to predict what the demand will be, although our winter plans are holding up, in terms of there not being widespread cancellation of surgery and widespread cancellation of outpatients’ appointments, but there are great pressures there. But, it does show that those pressures exist across the whole of the UK, and, really, the NHS should not be a political football. That is as true of the Welsh NHS as it is of the English NHS.
Nid wyf yn credu mai Clawdd Offa yw'r llinell rhwng bywyd a marwolaeth. Rwy’n credu bod hwnnw’n ymadrodd hynod anffodus. A gaf i ddweud y bu pwysau aruthrol ar y GIG, ledled y DU gyfan, yn ystod yr ychydig wythnosau diwethaf, ac mae hynny'n wir am Gymru, Lloegr, Gogledd Iwerddon, a'r Alban? Hoffwn dalu teyrnged i staff y GIG, sydd wedi ymdrin â’r pwysau hynny dan amgylchiadau anodd, ac mae eu hymroddiad a'u proffesiynoldeb i’w ganmol yn fawr. Mae'n iawn i ddweud y bu pwysau mawr ar adrannau damweiniau ac achosion brys. Yr anhawster gyda damweiniau ac achosion brys yw ei fod yn wasanaeth a arweinir gan alw, a gall fod yn eithaf anodd rhagweld beth fydd y galw, er bod ein cynlluniau gaeaf yn ymdopi, o ran y ffaith nad ydym yn gweld gohirio eang o lawdriniaeth a gohirio eang o apwyntiadau cleifion allanol, ond mae pwysau mawr yn hynny o beth. Ond, mae yn dangos bod y pwysau hynny’n bodoli ar draws y DU gyfan, ac, mewn gwirionedd, ni ddylai'r GIG fod yn bêl-droed wleidyddol. Mae hynny yr un mor wir am y GIG yng Nghymru ag y mae am y GIG yn Lloegr.