Betsi Cadwaladr: 'A great deal more to do' beyond special measures, says Mark Drakeford
Wales' First Minister Mark Drakeford has said there is "a great deal more to do" on an under-fire Welsh health board.
Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, which covers the whole of North Wales, was placed back in special measures on Monday, having previously been in the category between 2015 and 2020.
The health board's future was top of the agenda for opposition party leaders at Mr Drakeford's first appearance at First Minister's Questions since his wife's death in January.
In an interview with Sky News, health minister Eluned Morgan refused opposition calls for her resignation after announcing a return for the health board to special measures.
In his responses, Mr Drakeford said requesting the resignations of the chair, vice-chair and independent members of the board was "a starting point".
"Our reliance on the idea that if you only get the right person that would solve the issues that have been there now over a persistent period of time," he added.
"That by itself is not the answer, that it will need something that is more fundamental than that".
Adam Price, leader of Plaid Cymru, did not hold back in his criticism of the government's response, despite the fact his party is part of a co-operation agreement with the Labour government.
He asked the fst minister: "Will there ever be a point where the buck stops with the minister, or is it just the board that can be hired and fired?"
'Disgraceful charge'
Mr Drakeford denied that the Welsh government had brought special measures to an end in 2020 because a Senedd election was in sight, but that it had instead received advice from officials.
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"I utterly reject what I regard as a disgraceful charge that the decisions made in November 2020 were motivated by anything other than the advice which the Welsh government received," he said.
"We were advised that that is what we should by the Auditor General, by HIW and by Welsh government officials, whose job it is to provide ministers with the advice.
"I think the member should withdraw what he has said by casting I think a slur on the reputation of those bodies. He's happy enough for us to follow their advice when it suits him, and when it doesn't suit him, he wants to cast aspersions on the motives of Welsh government ministers. He should know better."
