[Politics] Betsi Cadwaladr: Minister Eluned Morgan defends handling of health board

[BirSaNN]

Ex-Betsi Cadwaladr independent board members cannot "shrug off" responsibility for how the service is run, the health minister has said.

On Monday, Eluned Morgan forced the 11 board members to quit the north Wales health board and put it into special measures for a second time.

She said she lacked powers to make top managers quit but could intervene with independent board members.

Those board members say her actions expose patients to "significant risk".

Betsi Cadwaladr was already under "targeted intervention" from the Welsh government in a range of areas, including mental health services.

Just two years ago it came out of special measures, after 1,996 days of being under more direct Welsh government oversight.

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Last week, Audit Wales called the health board's senior executive team dysfunctional, following a recent string of failings, including on vascular and emergency services.

It is led by a group of executive directors, responsible for the day-to-day operation of services, and independent board members there to scrutinise their decisions.

The former independent board members have said in a letter to politicians that they had "no confidence" in the Welsh government's grasp of the situation.

They said they had been raising concerns with ministers about the health board and questioned the focus on them, instead of senior executives.

"It wasn't my job to have a grasp on things, they were in charge," Ms Morgan told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast on Tuesday.

"They can't shrug off the responsibility and say it's my responsibility. We've had concerns about the health board for a while.

"The straw that broke the camel's back was that Audit Wales report that made it very clear that the board was dysfunctional and, although there is a huge amount of criticism of the executive, with the current board it was clear that the relationships had broken down to such an extent that it didn't look they were able to make to make the changes that were necessary in the health board."

link: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-politics-64798137