Questions Without Notice from the Party Leaders

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:52 pm on 30 April 2019.

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Photo of Adam Price Adam Price Plaid Cymru 1:52, 30 April 2019

(Translated)

In going through the various levels of responsibility in this case a moment ago, there was one level that you failed to mention, namely the ministerial level, the governmental level—the level that you're responsible for. Nobody has resigned as a result of these damning failings in maternity services in Cwm Taf, and yet, surely somebody has to take responsibility, and it's Ministers who do have to carry the can, ultimately. And that includes you, First Minister, because one of the reports highlights concerns dating back to 2015, and your tenure as health Minister.

An internal report from a senior midwife has raised the curtain on further cases of stillbirth going back eight years that the health board didn't report on, and the authors of the report, it's important to note, have recommended that those cases should be subject to inquiry too. Now, this morning, in an interview on the BBC, a mother who gave birth to her daughter at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital last year, who subsequently passed away, said that the resignation of the health Minister would give her and those in the same position as her some assurance that others in future wouldn't face the same suffering, although it wouldn't, of course, bring her daughter back. Given the responsibility that you and your health Minister share for the systemic failures in Cwm Taf, wouldn't it be the right thing for you as First Minister to not only ask your health Minister to apologise to these families, but also to ask him to do the honourable thing and resign?