Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:02 pm on 13 February 2018.
The First Minister knows that for every success there are masses of failures. Four of the health boards out of seven are in special measures or targeted interventions, as the leader of the opposition pointed out earlier on. The Welsh Labour Government has a direct responsibility for the state of the health service in Wales. The Cabinet Secretary chairs meetings of the Betsi Cadwaladr health board now and a statement was issued on 1 February saying that:
'The Welsh Government continues to work with BCUHB to ensure that services and patients are not adversely affected by the need to improve financial management.'
We know, though, from the report that Deloitte made on the financial recovery group in Betsi that the governance structure is poorly defined and misunderstood by board members themselves. This financial recovery group meets in private, it doesn't publish any of its papers, it doesn't actually publish any minutes. There's a secret financial recovery review that is being hidden from members of the public. Why doesn't the First Minister take special measures himself to ensure that public confidence can be increased by being more open and transparent, just as in Hywel Dda we had problems only two weeks or so ago because of leaked reports? Why don't we have a more open and transparent health system? Why don't we make it more democratic?