Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 2:24 pm on 13 July 2022.
Thank you, Minister, for your response and also for outlining your interactions with patients through the community health councils, as you mentioned, and how important their voice is. A crucial place for this voice in the future, of course, is the newly appointed citizen voice board, and as you'll know, this board has the opportunity to stand up for the people of north Wales—Wales as a whole, but north Wales especially—considering the number of issues at Betsi Cadwaladr health board that patients are dealing with at the moment. But my understanding, Minister, is that just one of the newly appointed board members actually lives in north Wales, with, actually, them not being from the area, having worked and lived elsewhere for the vast majority of their time. I also understand, Minister, that six of the board members went to the same university, where the current chair of the board was vice-chancellor. You can perhaps understand why some of my residents are concerned that perhaps there isn't proper representation, a broad representation across Wales, and, in particular, in north Wales. So, Minister, do you believe that if we are to have a true representation and to maximise the potential of this new board, and, ultimately, take the voice of patients seriously, it needs to be rooted in north Wales with strong north Wales representatives who live, work and understand north Wales and all its nuances? Diolch yn fawr iawn.