Reform MS calls for team from outside Wales to take over health board

A Reform Wales MS has called for a team from outside Wales to take over Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board as it continues to struggle in special measures.

BCUHB, which covers all of north Wales, has been under the highest level of oversight for nine years due to concerns about care quality, patient safety and leadership.

MS Nigel Williams asked the Senedd's health minister Mabon ap Gwynfor whether it was time to take extreme measures and put the health board under the control of a non-Welsh health board.

But the Plaid Cymru-led Welsh government rejected the proposal out of hand as it continues to seek a solution to the health board's woes.

Health in Wales has been fully devolved since 1999, which means the Welsh government is responsible for health policy and the management of NHS services in Wales.

Due to a lack of progress at BCUHB, the Welsh government said it would take on a more direct role, with an expert panel set to review the situation and report back by the end of October.

Addressing the Senedd, Williams, for the Fflint Wrecsam constituency, said: "You mentioned that all options are open.

"Would you actually consider a takeover by a health board from outside of Wales?"

To which, ap Gwynfor said: "No, I will not even countenance the idea of allowing a health board from outside of Wales to take over Betsi Cadwaladr, because they work to different rules and regulations.

"We've got devolution here. We've got our own pieces of legislation. The health board answers to this Senedd, to you, the people elected by the people of Wales."

During the debate, ap Gwynfor said he had put together an intensive support, recovery and turnaround team to take a hands-on approach to bring BCUHB out of special measures and planned to launch a well-led review, led by a panel of health experts.

But Reform Wales' shadow counsel General Adrian Mason MS, who represents Clwyd, urged the Welsh government to seek outside help to speed up the process.

"Nothing about Betsi Cadwaladr's performance is acceptable," he said.

"Patients across north Wales have waited far too long for safe, timely and dependable healthcare, while dedicated front-line staff have been repeatedly let down by failures of leadership and governance."

He added that Williams was "right to test the minister's claim that every option remained open".

"Devolution must never become an excuse for being insular", he said, adding "the very best clinical, operational and turnaround expertise" should be brought in from across the UK.

"Patients will not care where that expertise comes from – they care whether it saves lives and improves treatment," Mason said.

He called for ap Gwynfor to "publish the membership and terms of reference of his expert panel", set clear monthly performance targets and outline the actions to be taken if those targets are not met.

The MS added: "Patients need a successful turnaround, not a constitutional bidding war.

"Bring in the best expertise from across the United Kingdom, keep accountability firmly with the Welsh government, and judge the minister on delivery."

One of the names in the frame for ap Gwynfor's well-led expert panel is respected NHS troubleshooter Donna Ockenden.

The senior midwife has previously been involved in addressing specific issues facing the north Wales health board and recently completed an inquiry into the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust which identified systemic failings in its maternity department going back 16 years.

But ap Gwynfor warned Senedd members she may not have the capacity to join the panel.

Conservative leader Darren Millar MS said there was "a high level of confidence" in Ockenden "with the two reviews she's already undertaken in north Wales".

He added: "She has the expertise, she's used it elsewhere across the UK to help turnaround."

In response, the health minister said he would be keen to get her involved, but it might not be possible.

"Donna has done a number of tremendous pieces of work here in Wales," he said.

"In Betsi Cadwaladr, she looked at the Tawel Fan issue. Absolutely, I value the work that she's done, and I will put her name forward to my officials to consider as part of the expert panel.

"I seriously can't promise that she will accept or she's even available, because you'll know that she's extremely busy at the moment."