CAROLINE JONES AM

COLUMNIST Caroline Jones AM, health spokeswoman for the Brexit Party

NEXT week the Assembly votes on the Welsh Government’s Health and Social Care Quality and Engagement Bill.

On the face of it, it sounds like a great piece of legislation. An act to improve quality in health and social care as well as strengthening the voice of patients and citizens.

However, as drafted, the act will actually weaken the patient voice.

Currently, Community Health Councils across Wales stand up for patients in the NHS.

It was Community Health Councils that highlighted serious failings at mental health units in north Wales and maternity services in south Wales.

It is Community Health Councils that are leading the fight against the downgrade of services, closure of A&E departments and cutbacks affecting patient care.

Community Health Councils are a true voice for patients. They have a right to make unannounced visits to hospital wards, have the right to make representations on our behalf to health boards and government ministers.

The Welsh Government, through the Health and Social Care Quality and Engagement Bill, wants to replace Community Health Councils with a new national Citizens Voice Body, which will be the voice of patients in health and social care.

I cannot fault the reasoning behind having a voice for patients in both health and social care, as we move to integrate health and social care.

However, I have questioned the need to replace the Community Health Councils rather than extend their remit into social care.

The government’s Citizens Voice Body will lose much of what makes the Community Health Councils so effective.

The new body will not have the power to make unannounced visits to hospital wards or care homes. It will not have the power to make representations to health boards, local authorities or ministers. It won’t be considered a statutory consultee on any proposals for service changes.

In effect, ministers are replacing Community Health Councils with an organisation that can speak up, but won’t be heard.

And colleagues in the other opposition parties are seeking to mitigate this neutering of the patient’s voice by bringing forward amendments to the government bill which will grant the Citizens Voice Body teeth.

The amendments will allow the organisation to conduct unannounced visits into health and social care facilities, enable it to raise issues with health boards, social care departments and Welsh ministers, and force ministers to listen to them.

We are also seeking to take the power of appointments away from ministers and pass that task on to the Assembly.

Welsh ministers may have chosen to ignore our demands, but I hope my Labour colleagues will stand up for patients and back the majority of amendments to the government’s bill.

Our health and social care services are under tremendous strain, and the only way we can ensure a safe service is by putting the needs of patients first.

We can only do that if patients have a strong voice. I hope we can change the government’s legislation for the better, otherwise we will lose the patients’ biggest advocates.