Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:38 pm on 25 June 2019.
I'd like to thank Llyr Gruffydd AM and endorse the very concerns that he's raised here. First Minister, in the statement you made when you were in the previous role, on Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board in special measures, on 9 June 2015, you stated that,
'the fifth and final priority I have identified rests on reconnecting the public with the board, and the board regaining the public's confidence.'
Now, in my book, to have confidence, you need transparency of process. Now, the Minister is fully aware of a case that I have been dealing with, which has seen a constituent who—let's just say it was one of the situations where something went wrong, very wrong, within the health board. Now, he's been waiting around eight months for a response to a serious incident review. Now, after such a delay, you would have expected all the inquiries to be addressed, and there to be a transparent thread through all the actual points raised by the constituent and his family. However, after a not very good response coming through, the family, and I, have now had to turn to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales, to ensure that there's some redress for this family in things that went very, very, sadly, wrong. Such a signal should be a signal to you, First Minister, that your fifth and final priority is still not being achieved. So, will you therefore explain what measures you will take to ensure there is more transparency and, indeed, more accountability when dealing with any complaint going in about the quality of healthcare that a patient has received in a health board that you, technically, as the First Minister, are responsible for?