South Wales Central Conservative MS Andrew RT Davies has told Senedd ministers to “get a grip” over serious failings at Cardiff’s Heath’s Hospital.
Speaking in the Senedd, Mr Davies pointed to several incidents at the Hospital, which is used by Vale of Glamorgan residents.
These included a 77-year-old emphysema patient “shivering after heating failure” and a man “in his final hours wet from the dripping ceiling of a pigeon-infested tunnel”.
Mr Davies pointed out he’d highlighted the failings “on numerous occasions” yet ministers had not taken sufficient action to address them.
Health Minister Jeremy Miles admitted “capital investment has been very, very, very constrained for a very long period of time” which is “inescapably the context for some of the estate challenges that the health board is facing”.
Mr Davies labelled this a “damning indictment” of Senedd ministers’ spending priorities, which he deemed responsible for the neglect of local hospitals.
Mr Davies said:
“Plaid Cymru separatists and Labour have wasted hundreds of millions on 36 more Senedd members, a Nation of Sanctuary for asylum seekers and an Anti-Racist Wales Action Plan.
“This has resulted in underinvestment in our hospitals which has left them in an appalling state.
“Senedd ministers are to blame for Vale patients’ unacceptable experiences.”
ENDS
NOTE: Please find below the Senedd’s record of proceedings from Wednesday 3rd December
Andrew RT Davies
14:55:52
A 77-year-old emphysema patient shivering after heating failure, and an 18-year-old in his final hours—his final hours—wet from the dripping ceiling of a pigeon-infested tunnel, and a despairing staff member who says working at Wales’s biggest hospital has become an absolute nightmare. Health Secretary, I have stood here on numerous occasions highlighting the failures at the University Hospital of Wales and I haven’t seen any action to address the concerns that I’ve been raising, from the threatened withdrawal of the licensing of the mortuary facilities at UHW to the appalling state of the theatres at UHW, and now that direct quote from patients and staff in the Western Mail yesterday, which I might commend as one of the few media sources to highlight the appalling state at Wales’s largest hospital. You need to get a grip, Cabinet Secretary, and get into that health board and sort it out before more patients have to suffer what I just read out, and their relatives despair at the way they are being treated at Wales’s largest hospital, and staff feel demoralised. So, will you commit to dealing with the issues at UHW and making sure that you come back within a month and give a detailed statement of the key actions you are taking to address those concerns and rectify the problems at UHW?
Jeremy Miles
14:57:28
I read the comments that the Member quoted today in the press yesterday, and they are shocking comments. I absolutely acknowledge that, and that absolutely should not be any patient’s experience. I have been extremely clear about my expectations. The Member will be very well aware that I raised these matters with the health board in the public accountability session of a few weeks ago. He will also be aware that the health board has addressed their comments and the actions they are taking and I expect them to take in response to the letter that I raised with them at that session. They are in escalation specifically because of a range of concerns that the Member will also be aware of.
In relation to the question of estates specifically, which he refers to in his statement, the health board is currently developing a plan for the future of both the UHW and Llandough sites. When that plan is being concluded, we will work with them on options and timelines. There is a clear acknowledgement that the condition of the estate at the University Hospital of Wales is not adequate. We have allocated funding as a Government to support comprehensive survey work to inform that plan, and that will provide a clear understanding of the risks and what investment priorities need to come on the back of those to address them.
We have provided the health board with discretionary capital of £17 million this financial year and there’s additional targeted estates funding that they have received in order to address a range of other challenges across their estate. As he knows, capital investment has been very, very, very constrained for a very long period of time. I don’t wish to make a party political point in the context of the serious point that he is raising, but that is inescapably the context for some of the estate challenges that the health board is facing. I do not use that to excuse the culture challenges that the consultants were raising in their letter; those must be addressed regardless. But the points I have made today show that we are, within those financial constraints, aiming to get to grips with that set of challenges. Nobody should have the experience that the gentleman quoted by the Member has had.