2. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:36 pm on 19 October 2021.

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Photo of Darren Millar Darren Millar Conservative 2:36, 19 October 2021

Trefnydd, can I call for an urgent statement from the Minister for Health and Social Services in relation to the recent emergence of a story about Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board? There were reports over the last couple of days that emerged, which suggested that a judge had found that the Besti Cadwaladr health board was trying to strike out its name in a report, which was referring to very poor care, neglectful care, of an individual in Glan Clwyd Hospital. The judge described the patient's needs as being substantially unaddressed, unacknowledged, unidentified, and neglected, and yet the Besti Cadwaladr health board was trying to hide itself from that description of events. Clearly, this is unacceptable. It suggests that the health board does not want to be transparent or accountable for its actions, and we really do now I think need to see a culture change in that organisation. I was very hopeful that there had indeed been something of a culture change in recent years, but this suggests that a lot of the same old problems at Besti Cadwaladr health board are still there. Can I ask for an urgent statement from the Minister for Health and Social Services on this specific issue, and, more widely, on the progress that the health board is making, following its withdrawal from special measures before the elections?