Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:32 pm on 5 November 2019.
Organiser, can I seek a statement from the health secretary in relation to the story that broke last week on waiting times in the Cwm Taf area? I think it is fair to say, and, in fairness, the report pointed out, that this wasn't a deliberate omission of people off the waiting lists, and I think that's a critical point to bear in mind. But it did point to a lack of governance and a culture that maybe was a bit sloppy, to say the least, around the edges that allowed for nearly 3,000 people to be missed off a series of waiting lists, which is roughly 5 per cent of the total. And we know full well that it was a lack of governance that led to the tragedy in the maternity services in Cwm Taf, and we don't want to see the same thing happening here.
There's still work ongoing to try and understand the overall impact, and, as I understand, there's still another 750 individuals being looked at to see whether they too were missed off the waiting lists. But I do believe that this warrants an oral statement from the Minister of health, so that we—in my particular instance, as a Member for South Wales Central, but I'm sure other Members—can seek answers and reassurance from the Minister as to what action the Welsh Government is taking to make sure that governance is reintroduced and, ultimately, this type of problem does not exist again.
I'd like to also put on the record my thanks to the chairman of the health board, who did meet me over this particular matter to discuss it, but meeting the chairman and getting an oral statement off the Minister for health, who ultimately is responsible for the health service here in Wales, is not the same thing. So, I hope that you'll be able to facilitate such a statement coming forward, given the difficulties that the Cwm Taf health board has faced in recent times on maternity services. None of us want to see that going into other areas of delivery for this particular health board.