Responding in the Chamber to the Statement by the Health Secretary, Vaughan Gething AM, on the Health and Social Care Advisory Service (HASCAS) Report into the care and treatment provided on the Tawel Fan Ward in the Ablett Unit at Glan Clwyd Hospital, which was closed in December 2013 after an independent investigation exposed "institutional abuse" on the ward, I asked why the HASCAS report doesn't chime with previous reports, including the Healthcare Inspectorate Wales report in July 2013 which found a patient locked in a room sitting in a bucket chair, incontinent, in their own faeces and urine, and much more. I also asked why ‘in breach of standard NHS practice to stop clinical notes being got at’, HASCAS ‘acknowledged that when they came to start their review, the clinical records they needed had not been secured?’.
Speaking as a member of the Assembly Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Committee, I spoke in the Debate on our report: ‘Apprenticeships in Wales’, stating that our enquiry exposed concerns that the number of disabled apprentices in Wales was far below the rate achieved in England, that economic barriers are preventing young people from taking up opportunities and that a stubborn gender segregation remained.
After concerns were raised with me by North Wales constituents, and given that Mind Cymru received almost 1.6 million of Welsh Government funding over the last three years, I asked the Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Public Services what action he has taken since BBC Wales published claims from former workers at Mind Cymru of systemic bullying, and what action he takes “to ensure that moneys raised in Wales to support local charities actually stay in Wales”, where I have been told that UK Mind, of which Mind Cymru is an office, “is only offering work to a handful of local Minds for not very much money when the local Minds that provide services are struggling for funding”.
I also questioned the Economy and Transport Secretary over his work with the North Wales Growth Board regarding transport connectivity with the rail network.
Assembly engagements included Chairing the Assembly Cross Party Group for Funerals and Bereavement, Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust and 'Showcase of Producers of Welsh Wines & Spirits'.
North Wales engagements included speaking at the North Wales Tourism and North Wales Holiday Cottages ‘Wales Tourism Week’ reception, the CBI North Wales Annual Dinner and a catch-up meeting with David Jones, Chief Executive of Coleg Cambria.
If you need my help, please email mark.isherwood@assembly.wales or ring 0300 200 7217.