ANEURIN BEVAN’S vision of preventative health will be at the heart of Plaid Cymru’s approach to the NHS, the party pledged today at its spring conference in Newport.

Health spokesman Mabon ap Gwynfor said: “If we are serious about government, we must prevent the conditions of poverty and return to Bevan’s initial vision for the National Health Service.”

Mr ap Gwynfor said sickness does not start with an illness but in poverty, poor living conditions and low wages.

The health spokesman said that Welsh Labour had allowed our NHS to become a national hospital service, where we have become world-class at treating the problem and not the cause.

He said the 1854 cholera outbreak in London was dealt with by tracing the source of the outbreak, removing the water pump’s handle and improving water supplies, not by fancy new treatments.

Mr ap Gwynfor said he could not promise a cure for the NHS in the next four years, but would start the process of stopping reacting to crises by preventing them in the first place.