South Wales Central MS Andrew RT Davies has challenged First Minister Eluned Morgan on serious failings at Cardiff’s Heath Hospital, after a damning report uncovered illegal drug use and theft.
Patient watchdog Llais confirmed they had not had sight of the report until the day of publication, a situation Mr Davies described as “unacceptable”.
Speaking at First Minister’s Questions, Mr Davies asked Eluned Morgan to take action to ensure the Health Board engages properly both with Llais and other statutory consultees so that patients’ interests are defended.
Mr Davies said:
“These allegations of illegal drug use and theft at Wales’ largest hospital are truly shocking – as is the fact the watchdog that exists to stand up for patients was kept in the dark.
“My constituents in the Vale of Glamorgan and Cardiff rely on the Heath Hospital, and are rightly alarmed at the current state of affairs.
“Labour Senedd ministers must take action to ensure the Health Board engages properly with Llais and other statutory providers so they can be the canary in the coal mine and alert them when appalling incidents like this are happening in our hospitals.”
ENDS
NOTE: Please find below the Senedd’s record of proceedings from Tuesday 10th June. The relevant link can be found here
https://record.senedd.wales/Plenary/15145#C684788
Andrew RT Davies
I’m glad you mentioned Llais there, the successor to community health councils. You will be aware of the recent report that Cardiff and Vale health board released on conditions in the theatres at the University Hospital of Wales, where illicit drugs were identified, theft was identified, sabotage was identified, and bullying was identified, along with numerous other incidents that, frankly, are horrific to think were going on in such a sensitive setting. I then, as a regional Member, approached the community health council or Llais to see what engagement they’d had with the health board. The reply I had back from the chief executive indicated that, up until the day of publication of the health board’s report, they had had no engagement, and they’d only had sight of that report on the day of publication.
Is that your vision for what Llais should be about and how the health board should treat a statutory body that is the advocate for patients and people who use the health service in Cardiff and Vale, or will you take action to make sure that Cardiff and Vale health board engage properly with Llais and other statutory providers so they can be that canary in the coal mine to alert them when these types of things are happening in their facilities?
Eluned Morgan
Thanks very much. I think we were all very concerned when we read the reports relating to the theatres review at Cardiff, and I do hope that the health board is taking very serious measures to correct some very difficult situations there. You’re quite right; Llais should be engaged with the health board. That is a statutory process. They have engaged with over 40,000 people this year, which is a massive increase on last year, but it does make sense for the health board to have at least discussed with Llais. It was a commissioned report, I think, internally by the health board itself. What usually happens with Llais is that that is something that comes from the public and goes into the health board. It doesn’t usually work the other way round, but there is no reason why it shouldn’t.