Rhodri Morgan has hailed a reduction in hospital waiting times as one of the big achievements of the Welsh Assembly Government over the last year.

Publishing his annual report, the first minister said the Labour administration had honoured its pledge of cutting waiting times to a maximum of 12 months.

"We set ourselves tough targets to bring maximum waits for either outpatients or inpatients down to 12 months by the end of March," Morgan said. 

"By then, there were no Welsh patients at all waiting more than 12 months at any Welsh trust.

"I congratulate the hard-working doctors, nurses and support staff in the Welsh health service who have helped to make this achievement possible, and look forward to further substantial falls in waiting times over the next 12 months."

Other key achievements listed in this year's report include achieving seven more years of European funding for West Wales and the Valleys.

Morgan said the UK presidency of the EU had delivered a "real extra bonus" for Wales in securing funding for Wales for 2007 - 2013.

The completion of the award-winning assembly building was also highlighted.

The first minister’s annual report gives a progress update on how the Welsh Assembly Government is meeting its 'top 10' commitments.

Morgan said progress had been made on all policy fronts.

The promise of free prescriptions was on track - already reduced to £3, the report said. And a £100m crime-fighting fund had been put in place.

More than 550 schools had taken up the free primary school breakfast scheme and around 221 '20mph zones' had been introduced on routes to schools.

And investment in new healthcare facilities in the four years of this assembly term will exceed £710m – well above the promised spend of £550m on hospitals and GP surgeries.

But Plaid Cymru leader Ieuan Wyn Jones said the report was "a sad indictment of this failing government" with "only six highlights".

"There is a litany of broken promises. This government is failing in nearly every aspect of its work," he added.

And the leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the assembly, Nick Bourne, said: "This annual whitewash is nothing more than a flight of fancy with very little basis in truth.

"As a work of fiction it is a masterpiece. As an appraisal of Labour's performance over the last 12 months it is damning.

"Rhodri Morgan is leading a tired government which has run out of ideas and is living on borrowed time."

The Welsh Liberal Democrats also said the achievements outlined in this year's report make for "pretty thin reading".

Assembly group leader Mike German said: "The completion of the new building stands alone as a single candle on a pretty ropy looking end of year cake."