Darren Millar
Commenting on the release of a letter showing the Welsh Labour Government tried to prevent publication of an email from Sir Bruce Keogh, in which he warned that high death rates at six Welsh hospitals warranted investigation, Darren Millar AM, Shadow Health Minister, said:
“The Labour Ministers in the Welsh Government have been caught red handed trying to cover up concerns from England’s most senior clinician about high death rates in Welsh hospitals and excessively long waiting times.
“The 2013 data shows that every hospital in Wales, bar three, has a death rate above the England and Wales average yet Labour Ministers wanted to keep it all hush-hush to avoid criticism and refused to take advice and investigate – it’s a disgrace.
“If anywhere else in the UK had death rates as high as some of those in Wales, there would have been a Mid Staffs-style investigation by now, but Labour are shamefully covering up their own failure for narrow party political reasons.
“The Welsh NHS is on its knees, reeling from Labour’s record-breaking cuts, closures and cancellations. Patients deserve better.”
