Plaid Cymru bids to strengthen accountability in Welsh NHS

PLAID Cymru AM Helen Mary Jones in the Senedd will later today attempt to strengthen accountability in the Welsh NHS by substantially improving a health bill by the Welsh Government.

The health committee will meet this morning to vote on amendments for the Health and Social Care (Quality and Engagement) (Wales) Bill. Amendments put forward by Helen Mary Jones AM will bid to make changes to the Labour led Welsh Government’s legislative proposals.

The Plaid Amendments include:

Creating a register of managers employed by an NHS body to set professional standards
Expanding the duty of quality to ensure workforce planning, prevention of ill health, and the reduction of health inequalities.
Merging the Health Inspectorate Wales and Care Inspectorate Wales
Ensure the citizen’s voice is heard in the health service through ensuring the new citizen’s voice body includes local representation and is appointed and accountable to the Senedd to ensure it can be independent.
Ms Jones said that recent scandals such as maternity services at Cwm Taf was proof that changes were urgently needed.

Mid and West Assembly Member Helen Mary Jones commented:

“This Bill has drafted by the Welsh Government is not fit for purpose. It is timid and unambitious, and just not good enough. Plaid Cymru’s amendments would protect patient safety, improve the quality of workforce planning and increase accountability of managers in the Welsh NHS.

“We would create a register of clinical and non-clinical managers who are employed by an NHS body. The awful scandals at of baby deaths at Cwm Taf, the treatment of people on the Tawel Fan ward, and in the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend have exposed the consistent and systematic management failures across our Welsh NHS. It seems no manager has been disciplined for contributing to these toxic cultures.

“Plaid Cymru believes a professional body for NHS managers with the ability to hold managers to account and strike them off for poor performance, in the same way doctors and nurses can be held accountable and dismissed by the professional bodies they are members of.”

Shadow Health and Finance Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth added: “A Plaid Cymru Welsh Government would make the Welsh NHS more accountable. We would make sure that the patient’s voice would be heard and it would be for elected representatives to appoint that citizen’s voice, rather than a sole Minister in Cardiff Bay.

“We would also create new national whistleblowing procedures and enhance protection for whistle blowers in the Welsh health service. New legislation should improve what already exists, but what the Labour Government is proposing is a step back for the NHS in Wales.”