6. Statement by the Minister for Health and Social Services: Escalation and further intervention to improve the quality of services in Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:54 pm on 28 February 2023.

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Photo of Darren Millar Darren Millar Conservative 3:54, 28 February 2023

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I listened very carefully to your statement, Minister, and I didn't hear an apology to the people of north Wales for the failure of this Welsh Government to sort out the deep-seated problems in our health board in the region, that have been ongoing, not just since 2015 when the Welsh Government first put Betsi Cadwaladr into special measures, but for a long time before that too. It should never have been taken out of special measures; I still believe that that decision was political, no matter what you have said today, and it should never have happened. We called in this Chamber last June for the organisation to go back into special measures, and you refused to listen to our calls. It wasn't just the calls of these benches; it was the calls of every single person representing a constituency in north Wales and every single person representing that region. We know what goes on in that health board. We see the letters that come in from constituents, and we see the whistleblowing letters that come in from staff as well. And frankly, your response to date is woefully inadequate. I have read with great interest the Audit Wales report—the Audit Wales report that you say has initiated the action that you took yesterday. I'll read some quotes from it. It says,