North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has called on the new Cabinet Secretary for Health to consult with and listen properly to patients and healthcare professionals in North Wales before making any service changes in the region.
Speaking in the Assembly Chamber yesterday, he said:
“As you’ll know, the North Wales Health Alliance has written to you - a broad coalition of campaigners and groups across the North Wales region - congratulating you on your appointment, saying that they hope we don’t see a repeat of some of the mistakes of the past and asking whether you will commit to holding meaningful consultations with patients before any major change is initiated and to respond positively to patients’ concerns. They note the ‘OECD Reviews of Health Care Quality: United Kingdom 2016’ comments about Wales, which called for a stronger central guiding hand from the Minister.”
The Cabinet Secretary, Vaughan Gethin AM, replied:
“As part of special measures, we recognise that this particular Health Board in North Wales had a problem in engaging with its local population, and engaging in genuine consultation about proposals for service change. That’s part of what we expect them to improve upon. They have made progress. It isn’t complete, and I wouldn’t say that it’s job done. So, it’s work in progress, but I’m really clear that the Local Health Board have to be able to properly engage with people before service changes are made, and to properly consult with them.”
Mr Isherwood added: “The OECD Review stated that Local Health Boards in Wales ‘do not appear to have sufficient institutional and technical capacity to drive meaningful innovation and quality gains’ and the North Wales Health Alliance letter stated “Much of the problems experienced over the last five years are the result of a failure to consult and listen properly to the views of patients and healthcare professionals.”