The chief executive of North Wales' troubled Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB), Gary Doherty, is standing down, it has been announced today.
Angela Burns AM/AC, the Shadow Health Welsh Minister, commented:
“It’s Groundhog Day. Again.
“We see another chief exec of BCUHB, which has been in special measures for nearly five years, stand down after ‘leading’ the board not to improvements, nor to even to keeping the status quo, but into a worse position overall than when he took over.
“I allowed myself a wry smile at the statement in the letter from board Chairman Mark Polin, which was: ‘The Health Board’s performance in some areas is not acceptable… It is time for someone else to lead the next phase of our journey of improvement.’
“’Performance in some areas is not acceptable’? That’s putting it mildly.
“It has been downright appalling and has become a national scandal, and as for the so-called ‘…next phase of our journey of improvement’, I, and the thousands of people Betsi Cadwaladr serves, are looking forward to the FIRST phase.”
Mrs Burns concluded:
“I can only hope that the new interim chief exec of BCUHB, Simon Dean, will, to use the board’s special brand of business jargon, ‘accelerate the pace of change’, as long as the change is for the better.”