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There’s probably never an easy week as health minister, but this one must have been particularly taxing from the Welsh Government’s Minister for Health & Social Services, Mark Drakeford.
Last week, a distressing report detailing failings in care on the Tawel Fan dementia ward in the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board was released. It made for shocking reading, cataloguing long-running institutionalised abuse of vulnerable people in the facility near Colwyn Bay.
Unfortunately, the report was not a stain on an otherwise blemish-free record. Multiple failings at Betsi had been identified over months and years: a crisis in maternity care which saw expectant mothers take to the streets in protest; a leaked report which saw GP out-of-hours provision described as ‘dangerous’ by its own staff and last year, the former Chair and Chief Executive were removed. Events at Tawel Fan, which could be likened to the Winterborne View scandal, was the straw which broke the camel’s back.
On Monday, the health board became the first in Wales to be placed into special measures. On Tuesday, the Health Minister detailed how this would improve the governance of the Board including the appointment of a panel to provide expert advice and set of targets to help rebuild shattered confidence in the organisation.
For the second week in a row, Prof Drakeford had to answer questions on the failings of the health board – something they would rather not be doing particularly because the Welsh Conservatives are running a hugely effective campaign using the Welsh Government’s record on health to undermine their credibility to govern.
Is this fair? Well, Labour Ministers have held the health portfolio since the Assembly was established so they are in some way accountable but equally, no-one seems to blame Jeremy Hunt for the English health boards and trusts in special measures. Is it working? There had been some suggestion that Labour lost the solid Vale of Clwyd seat to the Conservatives at the General Election because of local failings in the health service.
The timing was also difficult because this week saw the introduction of the Public Health Bill. As the Assembly elections draw ever closer, this is likely to be one of the final pieces of legislation passed by AMs and the Welsh Government are keen to break new and positive ground with it.
They are taking a tough (although not terribly well received) approach to e-cigarettes by banning them in public places. They also want to strengthen regulations on tattoo parlours and improve access to public toilets and pharmacy services. The Conservative leader, Andrew RT Davies, said the national media coverage rather over-shadowed these other policies but, at present, no opposition party is willing to support the e-cigarette ban, so Prof Drakeford may have to drop this in order to get the rest of the Bill passed.
In short, it’s a Public Health Bill which tries to tackle some very modern health challenges although it might give the Health Minister another major headache.