Clwyd West MS Darren Millar has attacked the Welsh Government this week for removing special measures at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board when mental health services are still wanting.

Last week, Health Minister Vaughan Gething announced the escalation status of Betsi Cadwaladr had been downgraded to targeted intervention “with immediate effect”.

It was originally placed under the highest level of monitoring by the Welsh Government in June 2015 after a report found “institutional abuse” at the Tawel Fan mental health ward at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd.

Mr Gething acknowledged there were outstanding concerns on some aspects of performance, particularly in mental health services, with a £82 million per year support package recently announced to deliver improvements.

However, speaking in the Welsh Parliament this week Darren said people in North Wales had been left baffled by the decision for the health board to be taken out of special measures with issues outstanding.

Addressing First Minister Mark Drakeford he said:

“Since the announcement of the de-escalation of special measures to targeted intervention, I’ve been contacted by many constituents who are frankly absolutely bewildered by the decision to reduce the level of intervention at that health board.

“You will be aware, because you put this health board into special measures, that at the time that it was put into special measures, there were serious concerns about mental health services and, indeed, its relationship with the public.

“It was told that it needed to reconnect with the public, regain public confidence, and sort out its mental health services, and yet here we are, over five years on, still in a situation where public confidence is very, very low, and where mental health services are still wanting.

“There isn’t even an effective strategy to implement on mental health in order to drive those services up.

“Why is it that given the absence of evidence of improvement in mental health care, and indeed the absence of evidence of an improvement in the relationship with the public, in particular, that this organisation has been taken out of special measures altogether?”

In his response the First Minister strongly defended the decision to remove the board from special measures.