Part of 3. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Well-being and Sport – in the Senedd at 3:12 pm on 25 January 2017.
Thank you for the question. I don’t quite share your reflection on the whole picture. As I’ve indicated, Betsi Cadwaladr do extremely well when it comes to waiting times for cancer. The challenge is, anyone who waits too long—. Even if you’re seen within time it can be an anxious process and that has a real impact on the individuals and their families. If you’re seen out of that time, of course, people are more worried about the potential impact on their outcomes. We know there have been ombudsman investigations that indicate there have been times where the health board have not acted in a way in which they could and should have done. It’s important that, in recognising the high quality of care that is delivered and the good performance when it comes to waiting times, we don’t avoid looking at those areas where the health board could and should improve as well. There’s learning to take from that, and I understand that if you’re one of those families where you feel the health board have not acted as they could and should have done it won’t really matter to you if the general experience, the overwhelming experience, of people is an entirely different one. There is a real point about learning and accountability for that and in our own drive for improvement and the health board’s one too. So, I expect Betsi Cadwaladr, as in fact every other health board, to properly learn when mistakes are made and then to do everything they could and should do to make sure they don’t occur in the future.