THE Welsh Health Minister has written a strongly-worded letter to Jeremy Hunt, the UK Government's Health Secretary about the "tissue of lies which are told on behalf of your party".

Mark Drakeford's letter comes as the Daily Mail gave more coverage to alleged failings in the NHS in Wales.

The minister added Mr Hunt had been 'grossly discourteous and demeaning' of his office by allowing the leak of private correspondence between the two governments.

Mr Drakeford also wrote to NHS staff to say "thank you" to NHS " for their efforts in the face of increasing pressure and criticism particularly 'political and media attacks.'"

Here is the text of the letter to the UK Government's Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt:

Dear Mr Hunt,

I write in reply to your letter of yesterday's date.

As a direct result of it, this is a final request for you to adhere to the normal conventions surrounding the publication of independent reports and your attempts to subvert the process.

If you do not, we will have to consider commissioning and publishing our own independent study by the OECD in a way which does not risk contamination by the overt politicisation of the process for which you are directly responsible.

The assertion in your letter that you feel you have a right to quote selectively from an unpublished report in the lead up to the General Election is truly shocking — it flies in the face of every principle of the proper conduct of public life.

Your failure to clearly and openly set out such an intention at the time when the study was commissioned will appear to some to be deliberate and deceptive.

The NHS in Wales will not be the victim of any Conservative Party ploy to drag its reputation through the mud for entirely partisan political purposes.

At a time when the four home nations of the UK need to be working closely together to address the threat of Ebola, your willingness to put the interests of your party above those of the public is especially reprehensible.

By the time your letter, marked Official-Sensitive, arrived at my office, it had already been handed to one of your backbench MPs and to the London media.

That was grossly discourteous and demeaning of the office you are privileged to hold. As it has already been used to augment the tissue of lies which are told on behalf of your party, you will not be surprised that I have decided that this letter too will be available for publication.

I am copying this letter to Alex Neil MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing at the Scottish Government, Jim Wells MLA, Minister for Health, Social Services and Public Safety at the Northern Ireland Executive and Stephen Crabb MP, the Secretary of State for Wales.

Yours sincerely,

Mark Drakeford
AC/AM Y Gweinidog lechyd a Gwasanaethau Cymdeithasol
Minister for Health and Social Services

Here is the text of the letter to NHS staff in Wales:

Dear colleagues, I want to put on record my thanks to everyone who works in the NHS in Wales.

Austerity has had a deep and lasting impact on public services across the UK but particularly in Wales, where so many people are employed by our health service and so many more people rely on these essential services for care and support.

The last few years of austerity have been difficult ones for the NHS; they have been accompanied by the additional challenges of rising demand from patients and an increase in the number of older people presenting with complex conditions.

However, in the face of this demand, you have all worked hard to continue providing first class services to patients across Wales, while at the same time making the changes we need to ensure we have a health service which can continue to respond to the needs of the Welsh population into the future.

You will be aware of the political and media attacks on the Welsh NHS, especially those which come outside of Wales — these will intensify as we move closer to next year's General Election.

It saddens me to see our NHS used in this way and I am well aware of the negative and potentially damaging impact this can have on morale, when the service is already under pressure.

I am very proud of the work every person working in and with the NHS and social care does to support our population and I would like to thank you all personally for your efforts.

Mark Drakeford AC / AM
Y Gweinidog lechyd a Gwasanaethau Cymdeithasol
Minister for Health and Social Services