Welsh Conservatives will today make a call for a Keogh-style inquiry into high death rates in the Welsh NHS.
Of the six Local Health Boards which have district general hospitals, four have higher than average mortality rates, according to data published in December 2013.
Last week, the Royal College of Surgeons raised fears that patients are dying because they’re waiting too long for cardiac surgery, despite having raised similar concerns six months earlier.
The call comes as the Welsh NHS continues to fail to achieve performance targets, some of which are set below similar targets in other parts of the UK:
- Ambulance response time targets have been met once in the past 19 months
- Urgent cancer referral to treatment targets have not been met since 2008
- A&E waiting time targets have not been met since 2009
Last week, Labour MP Ann Clwyd called for some Welsh hospitals to be placed in special measures. She said “I am concerned that these hospitals with high mortality rates should be looked at in the same way they were in England.”
Last month, it was revealed that English NHS Medical Director Prof Sir Bruce Keogh had contacted his opposite number in Wales to raise concerns about death rates in Welsh hospitals, but he received no response.
Darren Millar AM, Shadow Minister for Health, said, “Under Labour, the Welsh NHS faces a crisis in standards, with patients dying on waiting lists, ambulances seen queuing outside hospitals and A&E units full to bursting.
“This debate provides an opportunity to set out the case for an inquiry into death rates and standards of care in some Welsh hospitals.
“Concerns about the Welsh NHS have been raised by expert clinicians including Prof Sir Bruce Keogh and the Royal College of Surgeons, but to date there has been insufficient action to understand and address the root causes of the problems faced by our health service.
“High death rates are a warning that all may not be well in Welsh hospitals and it is appalling that Labour Ministers continue to resist an inquiry to identify potential shortcomings in the NHS on cost grounds.
“It is becoming increasingly clear that Welsh Labour’s legacy of record-breaking NHS budget cuts is placing unprecedented pressure on frontline services and hardworking NHS staff and that patients are paying the price.
“Under Labour’s stewardship the Welsh NHS has become the sick man of Britain – we need an independent inquiry to turn this situation around and give patients confidence in the services it provides.”
