North Wales MS Mark Isherwood has challenged the First Minister over her Government's refusal to meet with a group of retired medics and nurses who have established an action group in a bid to end corridor waits and delayed discharge of patients in North Wales.
Speaking in yesterday's meeting of the Welsh Parliament, Mr Isherwood asked what action the Welsh Government is taking to reduce NHS waiting times in North Wales, before referring to the recently launched 'BEDS' campaign, to Bring back community beds, End corridor tragedies, Decrease mortality and locate Senior medics at the front door.
He said:
"Across Wales, patients and staff say the NHS is struggling to cope. The problems are most severe in North Wales, where Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board remains under Special Measures.
"Following Welsh Government policy, they've been cutting Community Hospital Beds since 2009. They now have the worst figures in Wales for corridor waits and delayed discharge of patients. I warned this would happen when I led the ‘Community Hospitals Acting Nationally Together Cymru’ campaign in the noughties.
"A group of retired medics and nurses have now formed an action group to try and reverse the current unnecessary situation in North Wales with their BEDS campaign, to Bring back community beds, End corridor tragedies, Decrease mortality and locate Senior medics at the front door.
"Why has the Welsh Government so far dismissed their calls for a meeting with the Health Secretary, or is Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board simply complying with your policies?"
Responding, the First Minister said:
"The Health Secretary is going to announce further measures to support Betsi, to drive the kind of improvements that you're interested in seeing, in particular when it comes to patient care. There has been improvement since the escalation to special measures in 2023, but it's clear that persistent challenges remain.
"The Health Secretary is going to talk about the need to reduce ambulance handover delays and the situation in relation to flow, touch on planned treatment, improving waiting times for cancer and strengthening governance.
"People generally, though, would rather be looked after in their own homes. Let's just be clear, that is the shift that we would like to see. So, supporting people in their own communities, in their own homes, is actually a very deliberate approach by this Government."
Speaking outside the meeting, Mr Isherwood said:
“Her predecessors were saying the same thing two decades ago, yet here we are.
"As these retired medics and nurses stated, ‘to try and avert disaster this winter, we see no other option than a public campaign with the slogan BEDS’.
"As NHS staff told me 8 years ago during a visit to Holywell Hospital, ‘extra investment in our local community hospitals, such as Holywell, and NHS community beds in Flint, would take pressure off our general hospitals, help tackle the A&E crisis and enable the Health Board to use its resources more efficiently’.
"As GPs have also emphasised, NHS Community Beds add to the breadth of things GPs can do, including respite and step down care, assisting both primary and secondary sectors’.”
