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Betsi Cadwaladr health board chief executive suspended NHS boss takes charge at Betsi Cadwaladr health board
(about 1 hour later)
The chief executive of a health board placed in special measures has been suspended with immediate effect. The deputy chief executive of the Welsh NHS is to take charge of a health board which suspended its chief executive after being placed in special measures.
Betsi Cadwaladr chairman Peter Higson said the suspension of Prof Trevor Purt was a "neutral act" while arrangements for special measures were sorted out. Health Minister Mark Drakeford said Simon Dean would be asked to take over as the "accountable officer" at the Betsi Cadwaladr board in north Wales.
Health Minister Mark Drakeford said Simon Dean, deputy chief executive of NHS Wales, would be asked to step in as "accountable officer". Earlier, the board called Prof Trevor Purt's suspension a "neutral act".
A group of "key individuals" was also being set to to provide expert advice. Other senior figures will also give the board expert advice to ensure "longer-term leadership", the minister said.
'Watershed day' 'Strengthen and stabilise'
A report found "institutional abuse" at the Tawel Fan mental health ward in Glan Clwyd Hospital, Denbighshire.A report found "institutional abuse" at the Tawel Fan mental health ward in Glan Clwyd Hospital, Denbighshire.
It said the unit, which was closed in 2013, treated some patients like animals in a zoo.It said the unit, which was closed in 2013, treated some patients like animals in a zoo.
But Mr Drakeford said the intervention followed longstanding concerns about governance and leadership at the health board.
Announcing the appointment of Mr Dean as "accountable officer" and others as expert advisers to the Betsi Cadwaladr board, Mr Drakeford told AMs in the Senedd on Tuesday he was putting measures in place to "stabilise and strengthen" the running of NHS services in north Wales.
He said the local population need to have "confidence that these services will be there for them in the way they need in the future".
Mr Drakeford outlined the areas where he expected to see "tangible improvement":
Responding for the Conservatives, Shadow Health Minister Darren Millar said he thought special measures were "long overdue" and that other senior figures should have stepped down.
"This has been a dysfunctional health board now for a number of years," he said.
"It has been quite clear to many people in north Wales and beyond that the board needs help desperately to address the challenges that it faces, particularly in terms of the failures in governance and leadership which had been identified more than two years ago by the Healthcare Inspectorate and the Wales Audit Office."
Analysis by Vaughan Roderick, BBC Welsh Affairs Editor
Labour has reorganised the health service in Wales twice since devolution, so the decision to intervene in the running of the Betsi Cadwaladr health board was a painful one.
It was, in effect, an admission that the system Labour had devised to deliver health services in Wales had lost the confidence of patients across the north of the country.
While the government insists that the decision was taken in the interests of patients, it would be naive to think that the fact that an assembly election is to be held in less than a year was far from ministers' minds
Problems at Glan Clwyd hospital may well have resulted in the Conservatives' unexpected victory in the Vale of Clwyd in the recent general election, and the Welsh government's record on health record is expected to be a major issue in the 2016 election.
It is clear that the government believes that it can't allow things to continue as they are, but there's a political risk in intervening too.
It will be more difficult for the government to blame others for any problems that arise in service in the north between now and the election.
As the "arm's length" relationship with the health board disappears, responsibility will rest squarely on the shoulders of the minister.
'Watershed day'
The suspension of Mr Purt was confirmed at a meeting of the Betsi Cadwaladr health board on Tuesday.The suspension of Mr Purt was confirmed at a meeting of the Betsi Cadwaladr health board on Tuesday.
Dr Higson said it was a "neutral act" to allow us "the space and time to follow due process". Board chair Peter Higson said it was a "neutral act" to allow us "the space and time to follow due process".
He said he welcomed the decision to put the board into special measures, saying it was "clear" the board needed "significant support" to meet the challenges it faced.He said he welcomed the decision to put the board into special measures, saying it was "clear" the board needed "significant support" to meet the challenges it faced.
Dr Higson said it was a "watershed day" adding that it was "in all our interests to get this right" if the board was to regain the trust of the people of north Wales.Dr Higson said it was a "watershed day" adding that it was "in all our interests to get this right" if the board was to regain the trust of the people of north Wales.
Geoff Ryall-Harvey, chief executive of the region's community health council - the patient watchdog - welcomed Mr Purt's suspension, saying: "He's been here for a year and I don't think the 'not-on-my-watch' argument works.Geoff Ryall-Harvey, chief executive of the region's community health council - the patient watchdog - welcomed Mr Purt's suspension, saying: "He's been here for a year and I don't think the 'not-on-my-watch' argument works.
"He was brought in to resolve these problems. He hasn't made the progress that he was employed to make.""He was brought in to resolve these problems. He hasn't made the progress that he was employed to make."
Vale of Clwyd MP Ann Jones also welcomed Mr Purt's removal, saying: "He has clearly not learnt the lessons of the regime he took over from and I do not see how he can return to his post at any point in the future."
The Betsi Cadwaladr board's deputy chair Margaret Hanson told BBC Wales that its members, most of whom were relatively new to their posts, had been "really saddened and disappointed" by what they had discovered.The Betsi Cadwaladr board's deputy chair Margaret Hanson told BBC Wales that its members, most of whom were relatively new to their posts, had been "really saddened and disappointed" by what they had discovered.
"We are absolutely determined to make sure that no stone is left unturned and that we actually do put these things right, but it will take time because there are so many of them," she added."We are absolutely determined to make sure that no stone is left unturned and that we actually do put these things right, but it will take time because there are so many of them," she added.
No 'micro-managing'
On Monday, Health Minister Mark Drakeford said the decision to put the Betsi Cadwaladr health board under more direct Welsh government control reflected "serious and outstanding concerns" about its leadership.
But speaking to BBC Radio Wales on Tuesday, he said: "We will not be micro-managing.
"We will work through people who are on the ground in north Wales, whose commitment to health services in north Wales is huge."
"The idea that Cardiff Bay is best placed to make detailed decisions about what goes on on the ground in north Wales does not, to me, seem to be a plausible one," he added.
Opposition parties have claimed the board should have been placed in special measures sooner.
Mr Drakeford was updating AMs on his plans with a statement in the Senedd on Tuesday afternoon.
Dr Richard Lewis, Welsh secretary of doctors' organisation the BMA, said the minister had been left with "no option" but to put the board into special measures.
He added: "It is important that whatever actions are now taken lead to increased public, patient and health staff trust and involvement in the organisation and its decisions on service implementation leading to secure quality and safety of services."
Analysis by Nick Servini, BBC Wales political editorAnalysis by Nick Servini, BBC Wales political editor
Health Minister Mark Drakeford says there won't be any micro-management of Betsi Cadwaladr by the Welsh government.Health Minister Mark Drakeford says there won't be any micro-management of Betsi Cadwaladr by the Welsh government.
There's an argument to say that special measures are by definition micro-management, and that was quickly borne out by the announcement that the chief executive has been suspended. There's an argument to say that special measures are by definition micro-management, and that was quickly borne out by the announcement that the chief executive had been suspended.
We'll find out later exactly what level of oversight there'll be.
The decision on the chief executive, and indeed the decision on special measures in the first place, should take the sting out of criticism from opposition parties.The decision on the chief executive, and indeed the decision on special measures in the first place, should take the sting out of criticism from opposition parties.
But there's been no let-up from the critics. Plaid Cymru says special measures are a "huge acceptance of failure" while the leader of the Welsh Conservatives Andrew RT Davies says the board members who were there at the time of the Tawel Fan scandal should "look long and hard at their position".But there's been no let-up from the critics. Plaid Cymru says special measures are a "huge acceptance of failure" while the leader of the Welsh Conservatives Andrew RT Davies says the board members who were there at the time of the Tawel Fan scandal should "look long and hard at their position".