5. Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services: Betsi Cadwaladr University Local Health Board — Special Measures Update

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:18 pm on 6 November 2018.

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Photo of Vaughan Gething Vaughan Gething Labour 4:18, 6 November 2018

Thank you for the comments and questions. There were two broad questions. On an anonymous staff survey, actually, I took part in a number of anonymised staff surveys when I worked in my previous job in the private sector, both as an individual member of staff, when I was not a leader or manager, and then again when I was a leader and a manager, including a 360-degree review of how my staff saw me in that role, and it was a useful point of learning and improvement. So, I recognised the value before coming into this job, and that's exactly what the NHS Wales staff survey does. It is anonymous and it is detailed, and we actually saw an encouraging increase in a range of areas of people actually taking part in the survey. The more people that take part, the greater the value of the survey, and that includes a range of comments—it isn’t just a tick-box exercise—a range of comments about how people feel about working in their part of the organisation, and comments for improvement. So, we do essentially, with the NHS Wales staff survey, do what the Member asked us to do, and I'm not persuaded there is value in undertaking a health board-specific exercise when we have just completed the NHS Wales staff survey.

It's also worth pointing out, from a staff point of view, there is real excellence that takes place within healthcare in north Wales as well, as highlighted in the recent NHS Wales staff awards, and I think people in this Chamber could and should be very proud of the real excellence that those staff deliver.

On your broader point about the make-up of the board, we have, of course, consulted on the shape and nature of boards, and if we are able to, and time permits, within this term, the First Minister's already announced we'll take forward a healthcare quality and governance Bill. We currently have a range of clinical roles. We have a medical director, we have a nurse director, and we have a director for, essentially, allied healthcare professionals, So, we have a range of clinicians around the board in executive director roles.

These are roles in running significant organisations. The chief executive of a health board requires the skills to be a chief executive. They require the skills to be a significant leader and manager within a service. Now that doesn't mean that they have to be a clinician or, indeed, have had time in clinical practice. This isn't about providing the best clinician with an opportunity to run a health board. If you look in general practice, a range of general practices employ people as either the practice manager or as a business manager to run the business part of that organisation, to make sure that they can do what they need to do. Because the skills that a general practitioner has in training and then in many years of practice are actually how to treat and care for people. The chief executive's job is to make sure they do their job properly as the chief executive officer. That is what I expect, and I certainly won't be introducing a requirement that somebody has to have had a level of clinical experience, because I don't think that is going to deliver a better service and, ultimately, that is what I am interested in.