Questions Without Notice from the Party Leaders

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:38 pm on 19 November 2019.

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Photo of Helen Mary Jones Helen Mary Jones Plaid Cymru 1:38, 19 November 2019

Diolch, Llywydd, and I'm sure I speak for everyone today in the Chamber wishing our First Minister a speedy recovery. Can I draw the Minister's attention to the joint Wales Audit Office and Healthcare Inspectorate Wales report into governance arrangements at Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Local Health Board that was published yesterday? I'm sure that, once again, our thoughts will be with the families affected by the catastrophic failing in maternity services. This report will make hard reading for them, as it will for the front-line staff, because it is clear that a lot of what went so terribly wrong could have been avoided, and that both the staff and the families were let down by failures of management and scrutiny. 

The report raises concerns that this was a board that appeared from the outside to be performing well if you measured them against the Welsh Government's targets, and that the pressure to meet financial targets skewed the board's focus away from the quality of patient experience. Now, I would ask the Minister, given that he sets the targets, whether he accepts that, given that, despite eight reports, surveys and visits into Cwm Taf that should have led to action being taken, it took a ninth report for him to do anything? Given that he and his officials failed to pick up on the issues in the Betsi Cadwaladr University Local Health Board until crisis point had been reached and that he's failed to sort them out after almost five years of intervention, does he accept that the Welsh public, and particularly the public in Cwm Taf, will have little faith in his ability to ensure that the issues raised in this report are addressed and the recommendations acted upon?