7. What steps is the Welsh Government taking to improve health services in north Wales? OQ58418

I thank Mabon ap Gwynfor for the question. The Welsh Government works with the local health board, for example by providing direct financial assistance, access to national clinical expertise and support for board development. These joint endeavours are all directed to securing the best possible outcomes for patients.

Thank you very much to the First Minister for that response. I want to take this opportunity to thank the chief executive, Jo Whitehead, for her leadership of the board over the past 18 months. I was hopeful that things would improve under her leadership, but in her last annual report published in August, the chief executive said,

'There are processes requiring significant improvement in relation to patient safety and compliance assurance' 

—when it comes to the health board in north Wales. The health board in north Wales is the only board in Wales to receive limited assurance from the investigation. The annual report is damning, and it's clear that the board is failing. It's clear that everything that you as a Government have tried to do to solve the problems of the board have failed. Do you now accept that it's time to look at a new structure for the provision of healthcare in north Wales?

Well, Llywydd, I too want to pay tribute to Jo Whitehead for everything that she has done and to pay tribute to members of the board, too. We were lucky to reappoint Mark Polin as chair of the board for the next term, and I know that the board and those leading at a clinical level are persevering in doing what Jo Whitehead set out in her annual report. As I've explained many times on the floor of the Chamber, we as a Government don't believe that the best way of helping people in north Wales is to put the board in a position where they don't know whether the board will continue. That isn't going to help people focus on the work that needs to be done, and that is work that we, as a Government, are eager to help the board with in undertaking the hard work that they are facing.

Finally, question 8, Jenny Rathbone.