As a GP, and through working as an NHS doctor in the area over the last 20 years, I have become ever more concerned about local service provision through Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. These issues long preceded the pandemic and were one of the reasons that drove me to seek election at the national level. I had found that the representations that I and others were raising 10-15 years ago were not being heeded - from the closure of community hospitals to the failure to keep up with other parts of the UK over necessary reforms, standards and infrastructure upgrades.
I formerly worked at Glan Clwyd Hospital as a junior doctor and my insight now is assisted by work I undertake during Parliamentary recess as a GP in both NE Wales and W Cheshire; there is a very clear divide between NHS performance in the two, which was not the case prior to devolution.
In recent years, my concern has been heightened by large numbers of awful stories that have been brought to me by constituents and patients who have often come to harm unnecessarily – as well as colleagues who work in the health service. On a regular basis I am hearing from constituents with shocking accounts of difficult access, failing services and poor patient outcomes.
- Healthcare in North Wales is a national scandal, say MPs and ITV report
- ITV Wales examined preventable deaths in the North Wales NHS: Prevention of Future Deaths Reports 19/04/24
- The former Secretary of State for Health, the Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP, gave an indication of his concerns here.
- The NHS in Wales was discussed on Radio 4.
- BCUHB was returned to Special Measures at the beginning of 2023.
- Audit Wales report identified a "deeply worrying degree of dysfunctionality" at Betsi Cadwaladr.
- Significant concerns were raised following HIW Inspections.
- Accountancy firm, Ernest Young investigation revealed BCUHB wrongly and deliberately accounted for £122million
- Secretaries of State for Wales and Health have called for an independent inquiry into BCUHB.
In Wales, the NHS has been under Labour control for the last quarter of a century – including via the devolved Welsh Administration since 1999. Since the early 2000s, the NHS in North Wales has become increasingly unfit for purpose. For too long, Welsh Labour Ministers have been letting down patients and the dedicated, hard working NHS staff in North Wales with poor management and organisation of the NHS across Wales as a whole.
While still facing challenges, the NHS in most other parts of the UK performs far better and more safely, often with a lower expenditure per head of the population. It is a disgrace that some are feeling the need to move out of North Wales to other parts of the UK out of fear over the local health provision.
It has become clear to me in recent years that Cardiff Bay lacks the capacity and capability to improve the quality of the service here in North Wales and does not understand the nature of our region and the severity of the issues at hand. I therefore need your support to secure a public inquiry into the NHS in North Wales. I also want your backing for the introduction of UK-wide comparable statistics on NHS performance and outcomes. We need to ensure a minimum standard of care for all British citizens, as well as fully interoperable data.
I believe that the pandemic has demonstrated how comparable data in the NHS can help improve policy decision and, ultimately, patient outcomes. Therefore, I have been pushing for the UK Government to mandate UK-wide comparable and interoperable data. By introducing UK-wide health data, politicians at all levels will be held to account, practitioners and policy makers can better share best practice, and, ultimately, equal health outcomes will be promoted. I am pleased that this pledge has been included in the Conservative Manifesto.
Waiting lists in North Wales are a particular concern, and have contributed towards the vicious circle of decline and dysfunctional service provision that exists in A&E, the ambulance service and primary care. Currently there are 25,000 people in Wales who have been on a waiting list for two years or more. That compares to England - which has 20 times the Welsh population - where the equivalent figure is just 200.
The UK Government has twice offered to the Welsh Government to help reduce waiting lists in Wales by offering access to NHS hospitals in England. This offer is yet to be taken up. I believe that patients in North Wales should have the right to choose to access NHS hospital services anywhere in Britain.
More broadly, I have been working very hard to find ways to resolve these issues, despite devolution. Part of my campaign to improve the service has been to work with my Conservative colleagues in North Wales to push influential groups and stakeholders to take action and acknowledge the failings.
I have met the Health Board repeatedly, along with the North Wales Community Health Council, the Senior Coroner for North Wales (East and Central), Healthcare Inspectorate Wales, the General Medical Council, Audit Wales, the Royal College of Surgeons, Health Education and Improvement Wales and Donna Ockenden.
Details of some of my recent efforts can be found at the bottom of this page under 'News'.
It is clear to me that we need to restore UK-wide audit and inspection mechanisms to ensure patient safety.
You can give me your views at: https://letstalk.conservatives.com/7D3C67A8-A948-EE11-A3B6-00505693FFD8
I have also been made aware of the difficulties constituents in North Wales have had in accessing the 111 service. You can see my comments to ITV News on this issue here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuUg9D_J-bY
Given the reports I hear regularly of unacceptable and sometimes unsafe healthcare through Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, I was not surprised that the Health Board was returned to special measures. However, I remain concerned at the potential for a turnaround while longstanding layers of management remain largely untouched. You can read more of my thoughts on this here.
I regularly raise individual cases with the Health Board and with GP surgeries to assist constituents with their concerns on matters of policy, process and access to services, and I welcome contact from anyone who feels I can assist.
I am also aware of the significant issues many constituents are facing with accessing NHS dental services in the local area. This is sadly representative of an underlying, significant issue with access to NHS dentistry across Wales more broadly. Therefore, I have been calling for rapid improvements in this area, and you can read more details on my recent efforts here.
The UK Government is providing historic funding for the NHS, and is committed to investing in our health and public services properly. There are 200,000 more employees in the NHS since 2012 and UK expenditure on health is now ranked 6th out of the 38 OECD countries as a percentage of GDP. Despite difficult national financial circumstances, NHS spending has increased every year since 2010 - in total by over a third in real terms.
Unfortunately, there is no quick fix to local NHS failures. However, I have a good understanding of the problems that exist and their causes and am actively working with colleagues on all options available.
