Despite health being devolved for 25 years, around a third of my most serious casework is for my constituents who are suffering, and perhaps even dying, because of failures in our local health board.
I hear from patients, families and even members of staff who are deeply concerned about Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) and the effect its failings are having on the people of North Wales.
BCUHB is by far the biggest health board in Wales – with a budget of £1.9bn it is responsible for a quarter of the Welsh population - more than 700,000 people spread across a huge area. It is currently in Welsh Government special measures for the second time – with six of the last 10 years spent in special measures - and has been called “dysfunctional”, “chaotic” and “a basket case”.
In February 2023 the Welsh Health Minister sacked its entire board. An audit of its 21-22 accounts found £122m unaccounted for with senior executives accused of deliberately falsifying entries. It is now on its eighth chief executive in eleven years.
And this is despite a devolution settlement which funds the Welsh Government with £1.20 per person for every £1 in England.
It is difficult to relate just how bad some of the stories I hear are:
- People discharged from hospital sicker than they went in.
- Hours waiting for ambulances…and hours in ambulances waiting outside A&E.
- Errors in patient records.
- Appointments being “lost”.
- Significant failures in the provision of medication.
- Palliative patients dying in hospital because “fast tracking” them home will take weeks.
- Medical appointments being cancelled and rearranged for hospitals 60 miles away.
- The near collapse of local NHS dental services.
Unfortunately because the Welsh Government produces different data to the UK Government it is almost impossible to compare patient outcomes cross-border.
However, consider the following facts:
- in 2023 over 22,000 paramedic hours were lost in Wales just waiting outside A&E.
- In January 2024 more than 3,000 people in North Wales waited for more than 12 hours to be discharged from A&E.
- Nearly 60,000 BCUHB patients had been waiting more than 36 weeks to start treatment in January 2024. Six years before, that number was just under 10,000.
- Over 57,000 people across Wales have been waiting more than a year to start treatment with 24,000 patient pathways waiting more than two years.
- Since 2010-11 the Welsh Government has increased health spending by 30.6% - well short of the UK Government’s increase in England of 38.9%.
Alongside my work to highlight these issues with the UK Government and help my constituents to access healthcare through casework, I also provide practical support including:
- My campaign to train 100 local people in Mental Health First Aid.
- My campaign to train local people in how to use defibrillators.
- My work to support the mapping of defibrillators on Anglesey.
- My campaign to build a new medical centre in Holyhead.
