Betsi Cadwaladr University Local Health Board

Part of 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 2:55 pm on 19 September 2018.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Vaughan Gething Vaughan Gething Labour 2:55, 19 September 2018

There was a range of people, of course, who were involved in conversations and campaigns at the time, and the Government did look again and have a review, and the First Minister made a choice on the back of an expert review, which has now led to the SuRNICC being opened. There are people in this Chamber who took part in that campaign, and I see the local Member looking at me, and of course she was one of those who was remarkably forthright not just in public, but in private as well, as I recall, at the time.

The success story is that we chose on the back of that to invest significant additional resource and, actually, when I visited the unit before its formal opening I saw people who had received care and they were remarkably positive about the quality of care they'd received. It was instructive to me that some staff had said that they didn't quite believe it would actually happen, even when the building was taken place, and there's something there about the lack of trust and that we need to continue to rebuild with our staff and the public that decisions that we make will be followed through. But those staff who are working on the ward now recognise they have top-class facilities, they are proud of the care they deliver, and, more importantly, I think people in north Wales can have real confidence and pride in the quality of the service following the investment this Government has made.