Welsh Conservatives have called for an urgent meeting of the Health and Social Care committee following the publication of correspondence relating to ‘The Case for Change’; a report on the NHS originally labelled ‘independent’.
It follows earlier calls for the Health Minister to resign if she was aware of the emails.
Communication obtained by BBC Wales show the report author corresponded with senior Welsh government officials and in one message asked for evidence ‘to sharpen up the document and its impact in supporting the case for change’.
Leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Assembly, Andrew RT Davies AM, said:
“This correspondence raises a number of serious questions and I am calling for an urgent meeting of the Health and Social Care committee.
“Assembly Members should be given the opportunity to unearth exactly what has happened and all those involved must be properly scrutinised.
“With summer recess looming, this is not an issue that can be pushed into the long grass. Answers are needed immediately.”
Shadow Minister for Health, Darren Millar AM, has called for the Minister to quit her position if she was aware of the correspondence.
He said:
“This evidence is incredibly damning.
“It shows that senior Welsh Government officials, the Welsh NHS Confederation and Professor Longley connived together to produce a report with a pre-determined conclusion to pre-empt the unpopular reorganisation of health services across the country.
“It would be bizarre if the Health Minister didn’t know what was going on. Any knowledge of this correspondence should result in her swift resignation.
“Professor Longley’s report was far from the independent piece of academic research that the Minister claimed it to be – it was clearly a ‘sexed up dodgy dossier’ and should be regarded as such.
“This process is a shambles and reckless plans for the downgrading of hospitals should be scrapped immediately.”
