Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 2:16 pm on 4 November 2020.
Thank you very much. The board at present, as the Minister knows, is appealing against the Information Commissioner's decision that the Holden report into problems at the Hergest ward at Ysbyty Gwynedd should be released. I think that reflects poorly on the board, and this isn't an historical issue. Other reports have suggested that problems are ongoing—a report on psychological therapies last year notes systemic and deep cultural problems, and, where lives have been lost, the failure to be transparent is entirely unacceptable.
In response to a freedom of information request some four years ago, the board said that there had been no deaths in Hergest between 2011 and 2016, but the coroner's report suggests otherwise, with a number of deaths either in the unit or as a result of people not being treated there. I know of three in Anglesey.
Now, I am aware, of course, that there is a Minister for mental health in place now, but this is a question on transparency and it goes beyond mental health. I've raised a similar concern about the way an external investigation into speech and language therapy has been handled by the board.That was a report in 2017, and that's a report that has also not been released. Will the Minister now insist that these reports are published and insist on that full transparency in Betsi Cadwaladr, because patients and staff, in the past and in the present, deserve that?