7. Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services: Publication of Donna Ockenden's Governance Review

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 6:36 pm on 17 July 2018.

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Photo of Vaughan Gething Vaughan Gething Labour 6:36, 17 July 2018

As I have said, there is an 18-month improvement framework with a range of measures that we will test the health board against, and that won't just be my assessment; it will be the advice that is given by the chief exec of NHS Wales, the Wales Audit Office and Healthcare Inspectorate Wales. That assurance is not just the Government marking its own work or coming up with a convenient excuse or reason. So, every time they have that discussion, they provide advice, we provide a statement and we're open about what is said—both the good and the indifferent and the stuff where, actually, we're thinking we're not moving in the right direction at all. So, there will be openness and transparency, and if I think there are more measures that we should take, then I will do so, and I will be accountable for those measures. I will come to this place and I will announce them and I will answer questions upon them. There is no hiding, and I expect there to be—. Within the 18-month framework, there are measures there that are timed and specific, and I expect the health board to make real progress on doing so, as opposed to simply explaining why it hasn't managed to do so. If we cannot deliver that improvement, then it is understandable that people will not just have more questions, but expect further intervention within that health board to ensure that people really do receive the healthcare they are entitled to expect in north Wales and every other part of the country.