Part of 2. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Well-being and Sport – in the Senedd at 2:50 pm on 9 November 2016.
We do have a specialist vascular centre in north Wales and that is in Bangor. According to all the statistics that we have now, in terms of the question on specialist services in Ysbyty Gwynedd, I realise that you don’t have a figure in terms of the number of services, but, as Bruce Forsyth says, ‘Higher or lower?’ That’s all I was asking for. In terms of special measures, it’s not placing the board in special measures that was the radical step, but the declaration that those radical steps were needed.
But we will move on. Plaid Cymru, as the Cabinet Secretary knows, is keen to see the development of medical training in Bangor. Funding for medical education formed part of our recent agreement on the budget. Does the Cabinet Secretary agree that, if he is serious about developing medical education in north Wales, removing specialist services from Bangor makes no sense at all? We see these threats and we have seen threats in the past—maternity services, for example. We are still awaiting investment in the emergency department. Shouldn’t the Government be developing healthcare in Bangor now, as the health centre for north-west Wales, and centralising, if you like, in preparation for introducing that medical training?