Rhodri Morgan has said the debate on choice in the NHS is not relevant to Wales.

The Cardiff first minister said on Thursday that the principality's geography and "values" mean local services will suffice.

With the government and opposition in Westminster fighting over competing visions of providing a range of hospitals and treatment centres from which patients can choose, health policy remains devolved in Wales.

The Assembly Government there has pioneered its own approach, opting out of controversial schemes such as star ratings and foundation trusts.

However waiting lists and times are considerably higher than in England, prompting questions over the Welsh policy and whether it should be using more competitive pressures to drive standards up.

But Morgan argued that the wider spread of the population in Wales would make providing the right to choose a hospital impractical.

And he claimed the mandate he had from the electorate represented a different set of public policy values.

"If you're going to have public service delivery - the public service delivery itself will provide the choice you would normally get in the private sector," the first minister said.

"It's not really relevant in Wales whether you're talking about health or education.

"Our geography does not encourage this social model, and I don't think our values encourage this model either."

Conservative leader in the assembly Nick Bourne said Welsh voters were suffering from Labour's ideology.

"Rhodri Morgan's failed plans for the Welsh NHS have created a two-tier health service in Britain," he said.

"Conservatives in Wales would offer patients choice and ensure they are treated quickly, paid for from public funds, using space capacity in the NHS [and] in the private sector."