Part of 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 2:26 pm on 17 October 2018.
It's a question that Members will continue to ask until we see real and lasting improvement in the delivery of the areas that are in special measures. We've seen progress on maternity. We have not seen adequate progress on mental health. We've some progress on out-of-hours. We've seen some progress on leadership.
Mental health has always been the most challenging area of activity, and so the health board has made progress on having a strategy, but it can't simply be a case, for the convenience of politicians, certainly for me, to set an artificial time frame. That's why the special measures framework has the chief exec of NHS Wales, together with Healthcare Inspectorate Wales, our regulator, together with the Wales Audit Office, to make sure this is not a process that is driven by what is convenient for me or anybody else in the Government, but a real and honest assessment of the progress that a health board has made. So, the improvement plan I set out is the plan for them to adhere to, to get out of special measures. There will be an honest and upfront report on their progress, both on 6 November and in the future. Members and the public should take the reassurance that there is a genuine independent oversight on the progress that is or is not being made.