Fund to make new drugs available as quickly as possible, says Jones

Labour would create an £80m fund to pay for new NHS drugs if it retains power in May's assembly election, First Minister Carwyn Jones has announced.

He made the pledge during a visit to St Asaph, Denbighshire, after a lengthy political row over the use of a so-called cancer drugs fund by UK ministers in England.

Over the last assembly term Conservatives pressed Mr Jones's Welsh Government to adopt the same scheme.

The scheme in England is being revamped this summer.

He said the Labour proposal was different because it was "including but not limited to cancer".

The Welsh Conservatives have said they would create a £100m cancer patients' fund if they win the election, while Plaid Cymru's election manifesto promises £50m for a "New Medicines and Treatment Fund".

The Liberal Democrats said they would extend the Health Technologies Fund, which pays for specific new NHS equipment, to cover medicines too.

UKIP are planning a specific cancer strategy for Wales, including a dedicated cancer nurse for each patient diagnosed with the disease.