Families were misled about a review into scandal-hit maternity services that was never actually carried out, the Senedd heard.
Russell George said parents and the press were wrongly told a review of serious incidents and complaints at Swansea Bay health board had taken place last year.
Mr George, the Conservative shadow health minister, told the Senedd about 300 incidents are currently under investigation in Swansea Bay alone.
Robert and Sian Channon’s four-year-old son Gething was born with brain damage after complications during his birth at Singleton Hospital in 2019.
Highlighting ITV Wales’ reporting on the maternity failings, Mr George said: “The family received two freedom of information responses from the NHS Wales delivery unit, which confirmed that a review had not taken place.
“And the family now, as well as myself, are viewing internal emails between Welsh Government officials that confirm that no review was ever carried out….
“Why was this review never commissioned or carried out and why did the Welsh Government say it had been completed when no review had been undertaken?”
Eluned Morgan, Wales’ health minister, emphasised that any issues relating to maternity failings are taken seriously.
Cwm Taf
She said the Welsh Government has looked to learn from the scandal at Cwm Taf Morgannwg health board where major failings were uncovered.
A 2019 external review found serious incidents had been under-reported at the Royal Glamorgan and Prince Charles Hospitals in Llantrisant and Merthyr Tydfil, respectively.
Baroness Morgan told MSs that ministers are looking at two intakes a year at universities, rather than the current one, to solve staffing issues.
She said: “There are challenges around maternity, some of them to do with the staffing area…. What happens is, towards the end of the year, we don’t have enough people on the wards, because some people retire.”
Mr George accused the minister of evading his question.
He said: “The concern here is that Welsh Government officials had told the Channon family, other families and ITV Wales reporters that a review had taken place and had been completed, when that actually was not the case at all.”
Inspection
Mr George added: “The Welsh Government has previously stated that there are no concerns, based on a report – a report that was never actually carried out.”
The Montgomerysire MS told the Senedd that an unannounced inspection by Healthcare Inspectorate Wales in September reported some of the worst staff feedback ever seen.
He questioned the safety of maternity services in Swansea Bay and asked why the Welsh Government had “done nothing to escalate intervention in this service”.
Baroness Morgan assured MSs that officials are keeping a close eye on the situation.
She said: “My officials are in touch with the health board in particular on this issue of how we improve maternity outcomes in Swansea.
“We know that if you get anything in relation to maternity issues wrong, the consequences can be devastating.”
She said ministers have allocated significant additional funding in an effort to raise standards in maternity services across Wales.
‘Inadequate’
Mr George argued that the Welsh Government’s response to repeated failings has been totally inadequate.
“It looks to me like there has been delay, there’s been dithering and there’s been failure to properly investigate,” he said.
The Conservative called for an independent inquiry into maternity services in Swansea.
Baroness Morgan said: “We delegate responsibility in relation to health to health boards, so it is their responsibility to carry out and to make sure that those services are safe.
“The fact is that, obviously, we have a responsibility then as the Welsh Government to make sure that they meet the standards that are expected of them.
“And that’s why we have things like the NHS Wales Executive, to make sure that they adhere to the kinds of standards and commitments that we want them to adhere to.”
Robert Channon, who was in the public gallery, said his family will continue to fight for justice as he reacted to the exchange on X, formerly Twitter.
He said a big takeaway from health questions on Wednesday November 22 was that, when asked, Eluned Morgan did not say that the maternity service in Swansea Bay is safe.
