Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:39 pm on 8 October 2019.
Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. It's quite simple what we need to know: when do you expect maternity services in Cwm Taf to be safe—not good, not excellent, not sector leading—when will they be safe? This report says there's a very long way to go. And, frankly, I find your approach remarkably passive. You've sat on your hands, you did nothing about the chief executive—you waited for her to resign. You calmly now tell us that you think the board that was unable to oversee the performance of this health board and the services they provide is the one to get us out of trouble, and the only thing you've done about that side of the senior management is send David Jenkins in there to keep an eye on things. I think we need better than this, frankly. We still, according to this report, have problems with the complaints process and responding to complaints. The culture still needs to improve dramatically, staff are not confident and neither are patients. Guidelines and protocols are not yet adequately embedded. What sort of training scheme is going on? How long is this going to last where we are providing health services that are not in accordance with protocols and guidelines? And in terms of the current progress on the improvement plan, I just read from the report that from the beginning of July, the pace of progress has started to falter. Minister, you need to take some responsibility here, because the one thing that hasn't happened is that we've had leadership and energy from you.