Shadow Minister for North Wales and Clwyd West MS Darren Millar has slammed the lack of transparency over the performance of Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board and called on the Labour Welsh Government to ensure this improves going forward so that the health board, and Welsh Government Ministers, can be held to account for their failings.
In their Senedd Debate on Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board in the Welsh Parliament last week, Welsh Conservatives - just days before the one year anniversary (February 27th) of Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board being placed back into special measures - put forward a motion calling on the Welsh Government to: ‘listen to the concerns of healthcare professionals when concerns are raised about the quality of services, and ensure patients in North Wales get the timely, high-quality healthcare that they deserve’.
The health board was previously subject to special measures between 8 June 2015 and 24 November 2020, less than 6 months prior to the 2021 Senedd elections, and has spent longer in special measures than any other NHS organisation in the history of the National Health Service.
Speaking in the debate, Darren told the Health Minister that special measures at the health board “are rubbish and don't really work”.
He said:
“The reality is that we need some more transparency. Our constituents are telling us their experiences, and they don't chime with the very positive impression that you're giving of improvement at the health board.
“The health board told Members of the Senedd that 10 reviews had been completed, 10 reports had been received, 10 lots of recommendations had been made, and that they were working to implement them. Not one of those reviews appears to have been published in the public domain, or shared with Members of this Senedd.”
Darren referred to the “terrible horror stories coming to light”, including the administration of oxygen problem and urology letters and scans that had been ignored.
He said:
“We know that at least 62 of the 100 plus scans were abnormal. I don't know whether that's caused harm to patients as a result of delays in them getting access to treatment and care, but clearly that is a concern, and the fact that that's been allowed to develop for over a 12-month period while the board has been in special measures suggests to me that special measures aren't working.”
Darren referred to the countless complaints MSs receive particularly about mental health services, urology services, and overly long waiting times that people have to endure in order to get their tests, their treatment and their access to the support that they need, and questioned why the Healthcare Inspectorate and the Welsh Government are not asking MSs for information from casework to assist in resolving matters.
He added;
“You read a long list of brilliant things that were happening at the health board, and I take my hat off to them; I want to celebrate those things too. But there's a long list of really bad things, really bad experiences that our patients in north Wales are having to put up with, that they shouldn't have had to put up with for so long. We need to depoliticise these decisions about when things go in to special measures and when they're taken out of special measures. You shouldn't be making those decisions; it should be an independent process that arrives at those decisions.
“Only then, when we start to see the improvements in our patient experiences in north Wales, are we going to have confidence that this health board is out of the woods and charting a new road to success.”
Labour failed to back Welsh Conservatives motion calling on Ministers to ensure high-quality healthcare in North Wales.
