Welsh Lib Dems call on Health Minister to sack Powys Health Board after meeting

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have called on Plaid Cymru Health Minister Mabon ap Gwynfor to sack the Board of Powys Teaching Health Board, after members unanimously voted to press ahead with a public consultation on sweeping changes to community hospitals.

The party says the Board has lost the trust of communities across Powys following months of controversy over its Better Together programme and the Health Minister should tell them to immediately pause the process and that if they refuse, sack them. 

The vote came on the same day Welsh Liberal Democrat Senedd Member for Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd Jane Dodds and Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe MP David Chadwick handed the Health Board a petition containing 7,930 signatures opposing cuts to community hospitals.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have branded the consultation a “sham”, arguing that key options have already been discarded before residents are formally consulted, leaving communities to choose between different versions of cuts and centralisation.

The party has also accused the Health Board of misrepresenting the level of public and staff support behind the process.

During Wednesday's meeting, it was claimed that the process had been shaped by thousands of people and “driven by staff”.  The Lib Dems say that staff they have spoken to directly contradict claims that the proposals have been “driven by staff”, with many expressing serious concerns.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats say the Plaid Cymru Welsh Government must now intervene over both the leadership of the Health Board and the financial pressures facing NHS services in Powys.

Welsh Liberal Democrat MP for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe David Chadwick said:

"Today we handed the Health Board 7,930 signatures from people asking them to protect our community hospitals. Hours later, every single member of the Board voted to press ahead.

"Confidence has been steadily eroded by a process in which key options have been removed before the public consultation has even begun, while serious questions remain about the evidence being used to justify these plans.

"We were told this process has been driven by staff. That simply does not match what healthcare workers themselves have been telling us. Staff have approached us with serious concerns about these proposals and deserve to have their voices represented accurately.

"I no longer believe this Board commands the confidence of the people it is supposed to serve. Mabon ap Gwynfor should sack the Board and intervene."

Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader and MS for Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd Jane Dodds said:

"I also have no confidence in the Board to continue after today.

"People across Powys have engaged with this process in good faith, but they are being offered a consultation where some of the most important choices have already been taken off the table.

"The Health Minister cannot simply watch from the sidelines. His Government holds the purse strings for our NHS and needs to provide Powys with the funding necessary to avoid these savage cuts.

"Plaid Cymru promised a rural premium for public services before the election. Powys is precisely the kind of place that promise was supposed to help. Now is the time for them to prove it meant something."

ENDS