Wales’s new health minister, Mabon ap Gwynfor, has promised to “eliminate” two-year waits for NHS treatment in Wales “within months”, and reduce waiting lists to pre-pandemic levels within five years.

Setting out his priorities following Plaid Cymru’s victory in the 7 May Senedd elections, ap Gwynfor promised an “ambitious national programme” for ten new surgical and diganostic hubs for Wales, and a “new approach to planned care” that would be “clinically-led, nationally-directed, and with a clear emphasis on modernisation.

“Through these measures, we will see two-year waits eliminated within a matter of months and the overall backlog reduced to pre-pandemic levels before the end of this Senedd term,” he told the Senedd on 2 June. But under questioning from opposition members, he repeatedly refused to say in how many months the target would be met.

The Welsh government said a plan for rolling out the new hubs would be unveiled before the end of the year. The plan would be “predicated on reinforcing local capacity and expertise… creating centres of excellence for long-neglected specialisms such as ophthalmology, and providing vital training opportunities for medical graduates,” ap Gwynfor said.

Latest figures show 2,600 patients in Wales had been waiting two years or more for treatment in March. The numbers have fallen sharply over the last year following a £120 million investment by the previous Welsh government, but remain far higher than in England or Scotland.

ap Gwynfor said he would extend the extra investment for a further year but criticised his Labour predecessor, Jeremy Miles, for “throwing money at the problem” and “outsourcing and insourcing without building internal capacity”. The Plaid government would develop “a sustainable solution”, he said.

He also announced that the troubled Betsi Cadwaladr health board, which covers the whole of north Wales, would be restructured if it couldn’t turn around its performance within two years. “We know that Betsi Cadwaladr is a problem, I live there myself,” ap Gwynfor said. “Nearly half of the Welsh cabinet live in north Wales, so it’s in our interest to get this resolved.”

The new government’s other priorities include “improvements in access to ambulance and emergency department services” and recognising “the dedication of NHS Wales staff who are working to drive the progress we all need to see,” ap Gwynfor added.

UNISON called on the new Welsh government to proritise staff pay, following anger over this year’s 3.3% pay award for NHS staff in Wales.

“Staff need immediate action from the new cabinet minister, not more of the same,” said UNISON Cymru head of health Tanya Bull. “Direct negotiations on pay are the only way to avoid strikes and start rebuilding trust. Without action on pay, the NHS will struggle to recruit and retain the staff needed to deliver safe, high-quality care for patients.”