PLAID CYMRU has accused Wales’s First Minister Eluned Morgan of allowing “a digital divide” to develop, after patients in England were promised full access to their digital health records.

The accusation follows the Labour-run Welsh government’s announcement of its own plans for the Wales NHS, including £28 million to reduce waiting lists by funding more evening and weekend appointments.

But patients’ access to their digital record was not included.

Plaid Cymru spokesman for health and social care Mabon ap Gwynfor MS recently announced that a Plaid Cymru government would grant access.

“Labour’s failure to invest in this means that we are many years behind where we should be, and patients in Wales will remain in the analogue age when patients in England power forward with digitisation. It’s time for change in Wales,” he said.

A Welsh government spokesperson said: We have provided over £300m to support digital change in NHS Wales over the last five years. This major investment has led to the roll-out of a number of technological advances in patient safety, together with the standardisation of processes and the use of digital technology to make services safer and more effective.”