Community Health Councils

Part of 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 3:01 pm on 31 January 2018.

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Photo of Bethan Sayed Bethan Sayed Plaid Cymru 3:01, 31 January 2018

Well, of course, Cabinet Secretary, I think that if we're going to have the grown-up debate that you want us to have on the future of the health service, we need to have a community health council sector that is able to respond effectively to that call as well as the politicians. I believe that community health councils are crucial, but I have some reservations from my own patch about how they've reacted to previous problems with regard to Princess of Wales Hospital and, more recently, with regard to the Kris Wade scandal. But that doesn't take away from my fundamental belief that I do not believe that a Wales-wide body will solve this problem. For me, it's about trying to give community health councils guidance, to give them standards, to standardise practices across community health councils and make sure that they are visible. In fact, the former community health council chair of Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Local Health Board actually told me that it was the best-kept secret in Wales, and I think that's quite a shocking statement to come from a chair of a community health council. So, what are you doing in relation to this concept of a Wales-wide community health council? Are you still going to go ahead with it, despite those reservations?