Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 2:32 pm on 27 November 2019.
Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. As a result of serious concerns about the quality and safety of care within maternity services at Cwm Taf, you commissioned an investigation into the provision of those maternity services. You asked the Royal College of Midwives and the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecologists to undertake the investigation. This they did in January of 2019, and the royal colleges subsequently produced a report that the Welsh Government published on 30 April. It is a damning report. During the investigation, the royal colleges were so alarmed that they took the highly unusual step of making interim recommendations designed to secure immediate improvements in patient safety. The investigation found a service that was working under extreme pressure and under sub-optimal clinical and managerial leadership. The maternity services, Minister, were already in enhanced monitoring, warning bells were ringing, the field work on the unpublished colleges' report had been undertaken some eight weeks earlier. Therefore, do you think it was appropriate that you agreed Cwm Taf's integrated medium-term plan on 27 March?