In response to the Welsh Government’s announcement on health checks for the over-50s, the Party of Wales Shadow Health Minister Elin Jones said:

“The announcement by the Health Minister is a to all intents and purposes a U-turn on what the Labour party committed to in its manifesto. The government originally promised to deliver face-to-face health checks led by GPs and delivered by health professionals, but instead, this has been replaced by a computer programme.

“I am sceptical that a website can take the place of a trained health professional, and the Minister now needs to tell us exactly how this will work. Will it offer a dedicated service for over-50s in Wales – will younger patients, or those from over the world be refused access? Likewise, many people still do not have access to the internet – how will the Welsh Government address their needs? There is an ever-increasing number of websites that seek to provide health analysis, so it is difficult to see how this £740,000 website will offer an alternative which is of any real value to the people of Wales.

“In our manifesto, Plaid Cymru committed to providing personal health plans for patients, which would be delivered through the renegotiation of GP contracts and by increasing the number of specialist nurse posts. It’s obvious that the Labour party had not fully planned manifesto pledges and they are now having to create an expensive computer gimmick that will in no way meet the pledge.”