“The patients, staff and people of the north of Wales deserve better from the Health Minister and Welsh Government” says Rhun ap Iorwerth MS

Plaid Cymru has said their calls for the Health Minister to be sacked earlier this month have been vindicated by a letter written by Mark Polin, the former Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) chair.

In his letter, Mr Polin is highly critical of the Health Minister, claiming that she “engaged in what can only be described as an exercise in attempting to distance herself, her government and her officials from any responsibility for seemingly anything to do with improving healthcare across Wales and particularly here in the north.”

Earlier this month, Rhun ap Iorwerth MS, Plaid Cymru’s health spokesperson said that the Health Minister had “shifted blame onto others when challenged with the disastrous outcomes of her own policies” and called for her to go.

Mr Polin also states that “patients across Wales, and in particular north Wales, are being placed at risk by an NHS system which is badly misfiring and arguably broken.”

Responding to the letter, Plaid Cymru spokesperson for health and care, Rhun ap Iorwerth MS said:

“Plaid Cymru’s calls for the Health Minister to be sacked at the start of this month are given added weight by Mark Polin’s letter.

“He raises serious questions about the integrity of the Minister and the way that she has managed health care in Wales over the last two years.

“Our health service is broken – but Welsh Government deny it’s in crisis. We’ve called for a full inquiry into the mis-management of Betsi Cadwaladr – Welsh Government have denied us that.

“Welsh Government cannot keep doing the same thing and expect things to improve by themselves. In just the last few months patients are waiting longer for treatment than ever before, we’ve seen the slowest ambulance response times on record, and had patients being discharged from hospitals without appropriate care packages lined up to help them.

“This decline has happened on the Health Minister’s and Labour’s watch, and the people of north Wales are tired – sick and tired – of this consistent mis-management. The patients, staff and people of the north of Wales deserve better.”