Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:47 pm on 28 February 2023.
Thank you. Minister, you can fool some of the people all the time, and all the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time, and we are not fools; we are elected Members representing our constituents, and they are not fools either.
Now, the audit report picks up the fact of four chief execs in less than four years. You mentioned your reasoning for taking the board out of special measures, that,
'The health board responded well to the COVID challenges, and we received a number of reports that signalled that the health board were taking positive...steps'.
I certainly haven't seen any of these reports. What I can remember, though, is that, during this period of time, just coming out of the pandemic, but we weren't still out—. Do you not agree with me that it would have been more prudent to have seen more outcomes measurably improved, because the Record of Proceedings is quite clear that, during this period, many of us were raising concerns on a regular basis about all these reports, these damning reports? Why, Minister, did it take a report from the auditor general to make changes to the board when we have known since before 2015 that leadership and governance in this board has failed? Why was the fact that £122 million was not accounted for not enough to trigger special measures? And why was the fact that building safety, whereby carrying out medical treatments in not-fit-for-purpose hospitals, had got worse since 2019 not enough to trigger special measures? People are responsible for this, and it is the executive members. My constituents believe, as I do, that you are ultimately responsible for the many failings in this health board, and that you should take bolder steps than using the independent members as scapegoats. The failings that my colleagues—