Part of 3. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 3:33 pm on 18 May 2022.
Thanks very much. Well, certainly we have seen massive pressure in Glan Clwyd, and it's one of the reasons why, as soon as I saw the first report, I made a beeline for the hospital and spent the day in the hospital, not just a quick visit, but I actually spent time with people on the front line in ED, just watching the kind of pressure they were under, and I can tell you that the pressure was intense. I also met with the trade unions, who talked me through how staff are coping. These are difficult times and difficult situations, but it's clear that Glan Clwyd and Betsi are not coping as well as some other health boards in Wales. And of course, therefore, we do need to look at that, and that's why the tripartite meeting will give us some indication of whether we need to escalate the situation.
I think that my predecessor did the right thing in actually looking at the way that Betsi was running and making sure that he did downgrade them from the intervention that they were on. But, since then, we've had a new chief executive, we've got I think a chair who is active and very engaged with the workforce and is absolutely determined to change the situation. And I think it's really important that we get the balance right here between making sure that we see massive improvements in Betsi, particularly in ED and vascular, but that we also make sure we stand by the staff, who have been under incredible pressure over a very long time.