First Minister Questions: Drakeford stands by under-fire Health Minister saying ‘serious response not scalp-hunting’ needed

The below is the another in our now regular summaries of this week’s First Minister Questions session from Cardiff Bay. First Minister Questions takes place every Tuesday when the Assembly is sitting and can be watched live via Senedd.tv

For those who have never ventured onto the Senedd site, you can view the session the below was taken from here, that displays a video of the meeting (along with creation of your own clips!) plus by clicking the ‘meeting information and papers’ link you are able to view all the supporting documentation, along with a link to the full transcript.

Wrexham was mentioned this week in terms of health that dominated the session, with the Leader of the Welsh Conservatives AM Paul Davies noting the following while asking why the First Minister had not sacked Vaughan Gething AM, “Now, your health Minister has been directly responsible for Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board since it was put into special measures four years ago next month. Since then, 29 per cent of patients in the Betsi Cadwaladr area are waiting more than four hours to be seen in A&E; 43 per cent of patients at Wrexham Maelor Hospital wait more than four hours in A&E; and, this is the worst in Wales, 38 people have died in unexplained or unintended incidents whilst in the care of Betsi Cadwaladr—38 deaths reported in the last year, which could have been avoided. This is more than all the other health boards put together.”

The question came about after last week’s reports into the Cwm Taf maternity service scandal, with a motion of confidence is due to be debated today.

The First Minister accused Paul Davies of offering a “partial and distorted account”, “I must say I think that last remark simply trivialises the importance of the issues that the Member rightly pointed to earlier in his question. Ever since these matters came to light, our focus has been on those brave women who came forward in Cwm Taf and who insisted that their stories were told, who have—as we know—suffered significant harm in their lives, which will be something that will live with them for many, many years to come, and what we need is a serious response to that position, not a scalp-hunting response.

He added, “…it is the serious actions that the Minister has taken, and those actions will go on, because he’s to be advised on any further action required to improve maternity services in Cwm Taf, as a result of the arrangements that he has put in place. That’s a serious reaction to a genuinely serious position, and that’s the sort of health service and that’s the sort of Government that I think people in Wales are entitled to see and to continue to see in the future. ”

Poverty is unacceptable; it’s austerity’s fault

Filling in for Adam Price, Rhun ap Iorwerth AM (Plaid, Ynys Môn) asked about poverty rates; 29% of children in Wales were living in relative poverty – was that acceptable?

“Of course, that is unacceptable, Llywydd. In the first decade of devolution, the number of children living in poverty in Wales went down year-on year. What we’re talking about is the period of austerity….We are doing everything that we can as a Government, but the responsibility lies in the hands of the United Kingdom Government, because of the actions they’ve taken in the field of benefits, for example. That is what is creating the numbers of children living in poverty in Wales.”
– First Minister, Mark Drakeford (Lab, Cardiff West)

Rhun ap Iorwerth AM wasn’t going to stop there, noting numerous governments in the Senedd have missed poverty reduction targets, ” I also recall that a series of Governments here have been missing their targets on tackling child poverty since the inception of devolution. This is one of the things that could arise as a topic for discussion in marking 20 years of devolution.”

He added, “In a few weeks’ time, this Assembly will discuss a motion signed by Members of many parties, including the party of Government, calling for a strategy to tackle poverty with a budget and specific action points. Isn’t it scandalous, after 20 years of Labour Government, that we are still in a situation where one feels that we need to have such a strategy? Backbench Members are eager to take action. The Assembly, if you like, is eager to take action, but it’s the Welsh Labour Government that has failed time and time again, just as you have failed to resolve the problems of the health service.”

The First Minister rejected that view, “It will be for people in Wales, then, to decide whether or not what they want is another strategy, or whether they want the sort of practical actions that this Government is committed to making in the field of child poverty—in the things that we have done to more than double the school uniform grant; in the extra millions of pounds that we have found to bring thousands more children into free school meals in Wales; the fact that, even in this really difficult period of austerity, Wales is the only part of the United Kingdom that has a national approach to tackling holiday hunger, and we have nearly doubled the amount of money that we will put into that during the coming summer. It’s for people in Wales to decide whether they would rather another strategy or would rather a Government that does those practical things, that uses the powers that we have every day to put to work to improve the lives of children in Wales. ”

Are private hospitals filling a community hospital shaped gap?

Llyr Gruffydd AM (Plaid, North Wales) asked about community hospitals, to which the First Minister said that moving services from acute hospitals to community hospitals was central to the NHS’s future, demonstrated by a £40million investment in a new community hospital at Rhyl. But….

“Would you agree with me that a private hospital that’s about to be built in the St Asaph area shows that the closure of community hospitals back in 2013 was a mistake? Because some 50 beds were lost when the community hospitals were lost in Flint, Llangollen, Prestatyn and Blaenau Ffestiniog. Now, many of us warned….at the time that that step-up, step-down provision was required, particularly with an ageing population in north Wales. But the health board and your Government insisted on the closure of those h
ospitals.”
– Llyr Gruffydd AM

The First Minister didn’t agree with it at all saying it is crucial that community hospital services are modernised and at many new community hospitals more services are provided to their respective communities that were there before. The fact a private hospital has been planned in north Wales didn’t mean anything regarding public sector services in north Wales.

20MPH Zones default for residential areas

Welsh Conservatives David Melding AM asked for a statement on 20mph zones – and we have details on that here…

Business rates blamed as data claims 1,100 fewer shops in Wales since 2010 – a drop of 9%

Welsh Conservatives Mohammad Asghar AM enquired of the First Minister “What action is the Welsh Government taking to support the retail sector?” we have the full exchange here.

Keep up to date with what is going on in the Senedd via SeneddHome.com