Speaking in today’s Welsh Conservative Debate on Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, North Wales MS Mark Isherwood criticised Labour Ministers for dismissing and deriding “our evidence-based warnings about this Health Board over many years”.
He also stressed that the problems relating to the Health Board are not just historic, and that “the core problems always lay within the Executive”.
27th February 2024 marks one year since Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board was placed back into special measures.
Speaking in the Debate, which took place during this afternoon’s meeting of the Welsh Parliament, Mr Isherwood said Welsh Conservatives have always spoken out regarding the problems at the Health Board “because staff, patients and families had asked us to do so”.
He said:
“Regrettably, Labour Ministers have dismissed and derided our evidence-based warnings about this Health Board over many years.
“On each occasion, they dodged responsibility by instead accusing us of talking down our Welsh NHS and its staff – when we were instead speaking up because staff, patients and families had asked us to do so.”
Mr Isherwood added:
“The core problems always lay within the Executive. The letter I sent to the Health Board in March 2022 as Chair of the Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee included:
‘we were disappointed by the lack of ownership and responsibility taken by the Executive of the problems at the Board’, and, referring to various reports, including the Holden, Ockenden, HASCAS and Public Account Committee Reports:
'We are also concerned about the ongoing presence of Executives and Managers at the Health Board who were implicated in the conclusions of these reports and about their ability to deliver the internal change required'.
“We never received a response to these concerns.
“At the Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee meeting on 3rd May 2023, we also received evidence from John Gallanders and John Cunliffe, following their forced resignation as independent non-executive members of Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board by the Minister on 27th February 2023.
We heard that the forced resignation followed attempts by the Independent Members of the Health Board to hold the Chief Executive and senior management team to account through purposeful challenge and scrutiny, after they were no longer prepared to tolerate the poor performance and unwillingness to be held to account of certain Executive Members of the Board.
“The central questions about dysfunctionality within the Health Board therefore remain unanswered.
“Functionality, effectiveness and efficiency require transparency and accountability, and we need concrete facts about this accordingly.
“This is not just historic. Only last Thursday, I was written to regarding the situation in Urology Services.
“This included: ‘It is no wonder that the relevant Executive has put off the Royal College review now for over 12 months. They conducted a search of the office to find massive issues that patients should have been having treatment, but the reports and letters not processed. The sacked Independent Members knew about the situation and look at minutes from 12 months ago when they were being fobbed off by Executives’.”