4. Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services: Cwm Taf Maternity Services

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:03 pm on 9 October 2018.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Vaughan Gething Vaughan Gething Labour 3:03, 9 October 2018

Well, the first part of your question I thought was entirely reasonable, to ask again about staff shortages, and that is part of the review that's been commissioned. The health board themselves have recognised that staff shortages may have had a part to play in the failure to report promptly some of these matters. The point about the independent review is to understand properly and in a robust manner whether there have been any failings in care, and to what extent any failings in care have contributed, whether there are any additional points of learning, whether there have been problems in care or not.

As I say, we use a Birthrate Plus tool and, more broadly, our system is Birthrate Plus compliant and we should be proud of that fact because of the additional investment we have made over a significant period of time in training more midwives. So, these are matters, of course, that are reviewed on a regular basis, as I said both in my statement and in particular in answer to a number of the questions asked by Rhun ap Iorwerth. 

I'm afraid to say that a large part of the comments were exactly what Dawn Bowden called for us not to do in using deliberately over-sensationalised and aggressive attacking language about either politicians or staff within the health board. I am certainly not seeking to hide behind our staff. In taking on the responsibility to commission an independent review, I'm in fact putting myself front and centre, because I will be responsible for making sure that the review is published, together with any recommendations and, of course, any response to that. It is actually an act of taking responsibility rather than hiding from it. 

The review: I appreciate you may not have heard or listened to all of the comments that were made, but the review itself is an independent review by royal colleges. That is the review that is taking place. Individual reports will be shared with individual families, and I would certainly not expect to publish any individual reports; those are matters for families themselves to receive. What we will be able to provide, as I have stated on several occasions before the Member got to her feet, is the report that we can provide and publish together, as I say, with recommendations and a response. But I do think that when you talk about the health board getting away with it, when you talk about babies dying because of institutional failings, you reveal yourself to be somebody who is much more interested in political capital than the real issues we face.