11. Plaid Cymru Debate: Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board's New Rotas

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:36 pm on 6 November 2019.

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Photo of Mandy Jones Mandy Jones UKIP 5:36, 6 November 2019

Moved. Okay, a quick change of speech in a minute.

My group will be voting for this motion today, and the Brexit Party has also tabled an amendment in the name of Caroline Jones that calls on the Welsh Government to ensure that Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board and other health boards across Wales do not attempt to circumvent the Nurse Staffing Levels (Wales) Act 2016 by reclassifying working patterns.

Minister, I've had a number of constituents contact my office over your controversial changes to rotas. My office has had nurses in tears, saying that they can't afford to do the extra shifts, the extra journeys to work. It's the childcare costs; it's even down to laundry. I find it outrageous that these changes were supposed to be made when an NHS manager in north Wales is being paid at a rate of almost £2,000 per day and allowed to work from home in Marbella. In this day and age, nurses shouldn't be in a situation like that. It's a profession we should all be proud of.

I will be looking forward to what the Minister has to say now that the health board have actually turned around this in the last couple of hours this afternoon, and, hopefully, squashed this debacle. But it is now clear that the biggest danger to workers' rights is not Brexit, but this Labour Government, who have failed to prevent this decision from being made in the first place.