Health Minister rejects calls for inquiry into problems at North Wales health board

Wales’ Health Minister has rejected calls for an independent inquiry to be held into problems at the North Wales local health board.

Last week, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board was put back into special measures in the wake of a damning audit report and longstanding issues with vascular and emergency services.

Eleven independent board members resigned following the announcement after it was later claimed they were given an ultimatum by Health Minister Eluned Morgan to quit or be sacked.

The move drew criticism from many and the independent members said in a letter that they had “no confidence” in the Welsh Government’s grasp of the situation. ‌​‌‌​​​‌‍‌​‌​‌

Ms Morgan has rejected calls from to resign from her position over the crisis at the health board, with Plaid Cymru also calling on First Minister Mark Drakeford to remove her from her post.

The party’s health spokesperson Rhun ap Iorwerth spoke out over the situation in the Senedd today, asking for Betsi Cadwaladr to be replaced with new, smaller health boards.

With that request being rejected by the devolved government, the Ynys Môn MS said a full public inquiry should be established to “protect patients” from long-standing problems at the health board.

He said: “If the minister won’t share with me my ambition to look forward to a fresh start, with new health boards, how about having a proper look back to learn more about the lessons that need to be learnt?

“One former independent member of the board, effectively sacked last week, has suggested that there is more than enough grounds to have an independent inquiry now (due to) the fraud investigation, the maladministration and the poor oversight of major contracts worth millions of pounds.

“They say they’re convinced that the recent Wales audit office report in itself offers enough grounds for that.

“Eight years of a failing health board means eight years of poor staff morale, and I feel for every one of them. It means eight years of a population poorly served.

“We need to know what’s been going on for those eight years and more, so we can protect the public. Will the minister agree to my call for a public inquiry?”

However, the call for an inquiry was rejected by the Health Minister as she claimed it would be a distraction.

Ms Morgan said: “I’m certainly not going to agree to a call for a public inquiry, because I think we need to get on with the job, and a public inquiry is going to distract people from the job that needs to be done.

“What I would argue is that, actually, this is a fresh start. What we’re doing, for the first time ever in the history of Wales, is, not only have we put a hospital into special measures, but we’ve also taken the unprecedented step of offering the opportunity to independent members to step aside.

“Their job now will be to work, and to read, very carefully, the Audit Wales report, which was highly critical of the executives.

“But we do need to make sure that their rights as employees are respected, and we have to go through proper due process.”