Schedule 1 - Schedule 7a to be inserted in the
Health (Wales) Bill
12:15 pm
Mr Nigel Evans (Ribble Valley, Conservative)
It is a huge temptation for me to stop speaking immediately and hear what one of the more independent Government Members has to say. I am sorry that he disagrees with me, but he will have an opportunity to express his concerns shortly. We want to give the bodies freedom from the Welsh Assembly and an opportunity, in a totally independent report, to expose deficiencies. I am talking about the powers under paragraph 2.
The closure of facilities and orthodontics has been mentioned. Waiting lists are also relevant, and plastic surgery was raised quite recently. Some people have had to spend nine years on a waiting list. Clearly, it is absurd for people to wait anything like as long as nine years for plastic surgery. There have been problems with regard to hot reporting on radiology. We know that when people are afraid that there is something wrong with them and they have X-rays taken, the stress and strain of waiting for an accurate report leads in many cases to an illness of its own. People have huge worries about that, so we must ensure that hot reporting is best practice and copied by everyone. I am also talking about basic matters such as the use of wheelchairs, for which there are waiting lists in certain areas. We know that they are expensive, but we need to ensure that an independent report exposes areas where improvements can be made.
One of the great beauties of producing such reports is that the newspapers take them up. Some people may say, ''Well, the newspapers sensationalise things,'' but this is about deficiencies in a health service into which people have paid. They cannot afford to go anywhere else, and they look to the CHC to represent their interests. The amendment would create an obligation to publish an annual report about the level and quality of services in the area, which is important.