Mortality figures in Welsh emergency departments

Part of 3. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 3:31 pm on 31 January 2018.

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Photo of Janet Finch-Saunders Janet Finch-Saunders Conservative 3:31, 31 January 2018

Well, on behalf of my constituents in Aberconwy, I would like to thank Darren Millar for raising this issue once again in the Chamber. And I have to say I was deeply disappointed yesterday at the flippant remarks made by our First Minister in response to the question that Darren Millar posed of him yesterday, implying that age is likely to be the main reason why this figure seems high. We are talking about people who have died.

Now, when you look at the figures, compared to the population that Betsi board covers, I raised in October the board having the highest number of patient safety incidents classed as moderate, severe or death in Wales, including 41 accidental deaths. Now, in the figures coming forward, my own father is one of those statistics—accidental death resulting from an operation.

But let me take you back to A&E. In that 18 months period of my father's last remaining months of his life, I had many experiences of being caught in A&E with him, caught with other people on trolleys in corridors, ambulance men not being able to get back to their ambulances. The system, the through-flow of patients, isn't good. But I'll tell you what: you've got all your north Wales AMs here, on regular occasions, and our Cabinet Secretary, who raised the fact that there are issues—severe issues—of concern within the Betsi board.

Now, all I have—. You've been blamed and accused of supercilious arrogance. Yesterday, I accused you of disinterest. Prove me wrong, prove everybody wrong. Please, come with me—let me take you down the wards, where the people are on catheters, where you will see full jugs of water where no-one has drunk all day, where you will see catheter bags almost bursting. Come with us, Minister, Cabinet Secretary, and then, if you come with us—unannounced would be nice; I'm prepared to do it—I will show you scenes that you will find abhorrent.

Cabinet Secretary, you've accused us of political grandstanding. There is no political grandstanding worth the sorrow that one feels when you've lost somebody very close to you as a result of poor treatment in one of your hospitals. I don't blame the consultants. I don't blame the staff. I blame the process. It's not about money. It's about procedure. This hospital is under your direct control, and it ain't getting any better. Please, Cabinet Secretary, do something. Do something for all those constituents who come to me—