Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:30 pm on 8 October 2019.
Thank you for the comments and the questions that you've asked. In terms of your first point about there being no quick fix, that is absolutely right, and I just need to be honest with people about that at the outset, as I have been in the first statement today as well, rather than suggesting that there will be a point of political convenience that will drive what happens, rather than doing the right thing by the service and honestly reporting the level of progress that has been made, as well as that that is still required. Again, I'm happy to reiterate that women and families will be at the centre of the work that is being done in the engagement work that is being led initially by Cath Broderick, and now the health board are taking a greater lead on, as they should do. In taking that forward, there are going to be three public-facing events—one in Merthyr, one in Llantrisant within the next six weeks or so, and then one in the new year in Bridgend, so that the health board will try to co-produce their future strategy with women and families to try to make sure that there isn't a disengagement between the service and the people using it.
The improvements are real that the panel set out, but they're not even, and we're not in a state of perfection. In any human service, there is always room for error, even in a good service. But I wouldn't try to pretend that people won't have things come to their postbag that are more recent, where there are reasons to go back to the health board. I wouldn't try to say that to anybody. But it is, nevertheless, true that it is in a better place now than it was before the intervention had started. My ambition is to see that improvement carry on and on and on, because I don't want to hear continued, justified complaints being made about the quality of care and the experience of women and their families in any of these services.
That's why I can confirm that there will be future resources to support women and families who are engaged in this. There are the resources in the support services that are often provided by the third sector. So, for example, the Snowdrop support group and the Sands service, again, are available to families to make use of, and what I think is a very helpful 'frequently answered questions' sheet that the panel have produced for the public that sets out how to get in touch with them. But, in addition, if women and families need to be supported in engaging with the panel on some of the review work, then we'll look to see how we actually properly facilitate that to make sure they're supported. And, obviously, the community health council are engaged in doing that work as well.
On your final point on supporting people to speak up, that's part of the culture change we need to see happen, to move away from a punitive culture, where people feel that if they step outside, either with their managers, or in a prevailing group of opinion with their peers in work—that people feel punished in their day to day work—and that, actually, we do move to being a learning organisation, where people recognise where things go wrong, as well as recognising excellence, to be able to point that out and to talk about it in a learning environment. And that's part of the reason why I'm really clear the panel can't have a role in saying 'It's your job to go and find people who are responsible', because, actually, that will turn it into a blame culture. It will reinforce a punitive culture, rather than moving on to being a genuine learning environment, where people are supported to point out when things go wrong, to hold their hands up for themselves when things go wrong, to make the improvements that all of us want to us to see in a real and sustained way.