Call for Betsi vascular services to go back into special measures 

“Principle of centralising has become more important than the quality of care” – Rhun ap Iorwerth MS

Plaid Cymru has today called for assurance that vascular services in the north will go back into special measures – with targeted intervention to sort out the situation.

The calls follow a “damning” report into vascular services at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, which raises serious questions about the quality and consistency of care provided.

In Questions to the First Minister today (Tuesday 8 February), deputy leader in the Senedd, Rhun ap Iorwerth MS said he “couldn’t believe what he was reading” and called for special measures to “sort out this mess”.

Mr ap Iorwerth said that the lessons of the centralisation of services at Betsi is a “lesson for all of Wales” and warned against the principle of centralisation becoming “more important than the quality of care.”

The First Minister conceded that centralisation can’t be a one-size-fits-all and must reflect community needs.

Plaid Cymru’s Deputy Leader in the Senedd, and spokesperson for health and social care, Rhun ap Iorwerth MS, said:

“Treatment given that shouldn’t have been – even amputation, an appalling lack of communication with patients and their families and record keeping so poor that the Royal College investigators couldn’t even figure out what had happened to some patients – the recent report into vascular services in Betsi Cadwaladr is scandalous, heart-breaking and utterly damning.

“There are real questions over whether Betsi Cadwaladr was ready to come out of special measures – conveniently, before the last election – and we need assurance from the First Minister that vascular services in the north will go back into special measures, with targeted intervention to sort out this mess.”