Welsh Conservative health spokesperson, Andrew RT Davies MS, reacted to the announcement on Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board saying:
“After five years of special measures – the longest of any health organisation in the UK – any genuine progress at Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board would have to be welcomed.
“Staff and volunteers have gone above and beyond to deliver health services to the people of North Wales that they deserve, especially during Covid-19. Their dedicated and hard-work needs to be commended.
“However, concerns over governance and delivery of services for the people of North Wales are as pertinent today as when the health board entered special measures under the stewardship of this health minister in 2015.
“Let’s ask the most important question about this decision: what has happened since last month to so radically improve things at the board?
“This question must be asked, because on October 7, just six weeks ago, the Health Minister said:
‘However, there remained concerns on performance and strategic solutions that may require specific external support. Specifically, the group wanted some further assurance from the health board in respect of progress in mental health services.’
“I’ve heard of miraculous recoveries, but not like this, not when services have been so bad for so long.
“We do hope this is not a cynical electoral ploy ahead of May’s Senedd elections, and marks a genuine first step to turning the organisation into an effective provider of first class health care, where patient safety and delivery of quality services in North Wales comes first.”
Notes
Key statistics
A&E Waiting Times
Lowest attendances of all A&E departments in Wales are in Wrexham Maelor, where 48 percent of patients were seen within 4 hours. The second worst was Ysbyty Glan Clwyd with 56.2 percent seen within 4 hours and third worst is Ysbyty Gwynedd with 63 percent seen within four hours.
BCUHB has the worst record at 64.5 percent seen within 4 hours overall and 55.2 percent in major A&E departments.
Again, Betsi comes out bottom with 89.1 percent of patients being seen within 12 hours. Nearly 19 percent of patients in Ysbyty Glan Clwyd spent more than 12 hours in A&E (18.9 percent).
Referral to Treatment Times
One in six - 16,690 - patients are now waiting over a year for treatment, with 619 waiting more than 105 weeks. Patients waiting over 105 weeks are the highest in Wales.
Patient Safety Incidents
BCUHB has the highest reported patient safety incidents out of the seven health boards, with 12,545 occurring between October 2019 and March 2020.
1,386 incidents were reported in mental health settings, 11 percent of the total number of safety incidents reported and the highest out of Welsh Health Boards. It also makes up a quarter of the 4,276 incidents reported across Wales in mental health settings.