NHS - Critical Condition Week In Week Out

Loud and angry - of this is the backlash over the biggest ever

shake-up of the NHS in Wales. have no confidence in the dough not

saying there. Tonight, we ask who is right in the growing row over

how and where we receive care. price do you put on a live? Will

reveal only to letter that has raised questions about moving sick

babies over the border. There were questions about rude staff and poor

care for some patients. It is regrettable that those kind of

statements were made. We discover a dramatic rise in health complaints

across Wales, so what does the Minister make of it? When ago and

hospitals I have never come across a patient who has criticised it.

There will be people thinking that perhaps you live in a parallel

How old is the patient? Is she a way? Is she taking breaths in and

out? Every day, the Welsh NHS is struggling to deliver. We are told

we need a better, safer NHS in Wales but instead of treating the

problem, those in charge are now being accused of making things

worse. And the patients are not taking it lying down. The new media

started badly for MS sufferer Beverley Miles from Pontrhydyfen

near Port Talbot. She spent 19 hours in Morriston Hospital's A&E.

It was just chaos there. Absolute chaos. Every trolley because they

were not beds, they were trollies, was full of people. Next to me, the

one after, the one after. The nurses will running around, people

were screaming. On 2nd January, A&E was busier than normal with 240

patients, many seriously ill. Seven wards were closed because of an

outbreak of norovirus. Beverley was scared. It makes you wonder whether

you were in the right place, whether you're going to be looked

after. Her husband Hywel stayed with Beverley throat. He was

becoming more anxious about what he saw. -- throughout. Something was

not right. The place was being overwhelmed. From that point, I

started looking around a bit more carefully at what exactly was going

on. He saw ambulances queuing outside because there were no beds

available. Beverley also had to wait until the next day to be moved

to award. I was put into a room where there were another three

ladies. One lady just kept calling for the nurse. A smell of urine and

excrement as you go in there. It was overpowering. I wanted to go

home. I did not want to stay there. It was just horrendous. The system

we all depend on was under strain. The day before, great-grandmother

Joan Perego was also let down by the NHS. She was out walking with

her family in Burry Port when she fell over. We were all enjoying

ourselves and I suddenly caught my toe in something and I fell forward

to on my front. 78-year-old Joan was lying in the cold, bruised and

bleeding. I phoned 999 and when I said her face was bleeding, they

told us to go and knock for a neighbour and get a towel, a

blanket or anything to try and make them more comfortable. She says

ambulance control warned there would be a delay. Roxanne

photographed the scene as time went on. You have heard so much about

the ambulance service in Wales lately. I kept thinking five

minutes. We kept phoning. People in the house is worth owning. There

was a lot of blood and it was getting obvious it was worse than

we thought. Joan has a heart condition but her family were

worried she may have broken bones so did not want to move her. It was

an hour-and-a-half in the end that we waited for the ambulance. We

ended up taking her to hospital ourselves. Joan was later dis

charged from Glangwili Hospital in Carmarthen. The ambulance service

said that crews were so busy that day dealing with emergencies there

simply was not anyone to send. just don't think it's good enough

to have someone lying for an hour- and-a-half on the floor after an

accident. Two patience, two families feeling let down by the

NHS. It is at a pressure point now where unless they have the

resources and things are managed more appropriately, it will just go

Many people working in the Welsh NHS will tell you that things just

have to change. Health boards have radical plans that will alter how

and where we receive care. Large sums are being spent on a public

consultation process but the response so far has been blunt and

very angry. North Wales protesters have literally been banging out a

message for Health Minister Lesley Griffiths. They are angry because

of plans for change by the Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board. In the

coming months, all Welsh health boards will reveal their plans to

reshape our NHS and the minister says changes needed, whether people

like it or not. Do you understand how angry people are? Of course I

understand people's concerns but we need to make these changes now in

order to have a safe and sustainable NHS across the whole of

Wales for the next decade and a decade be on that. If we do not do

something now, we will have some services that could collapse. I

will not sit back and allow that to happen. Protesters have accused the

health board tear of risking lives with plans to cut hospital beds and

moved some neonatal care services to England. I have no confidence in

the doughnuts in there. Campaigners John and Nicola believe this is

literally a matter of life and death. Their daughter Molly was

born two months prematurely at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd. The staff and

the doctors saved our daughter's life and I will be they ever in

their debt. She was only �3 when she was born. -- three pounds in

weight. There were wires and all sorts of things coming out of her.

Her life was on a knife-edge. Just like many other families whose

babies' lives are on a knife-edge. They live just 15 minutes from

their local hospital. When Nicola needed an emergency Caesarean,

every minute counted. To have everything on your doorstep there,

ready, was a life saver because, you know, they saved Molly's life.

It was a traumatic experience, especially with three other

children at home to worry about. had to rely on friends and family

to look after the children here. Nicola needed me down there. This

is where the health board wants to send around 40 babies eight-year

who needs the most specialist intensive care. It is Arrowe Park

Hospital on the Wirral. Had Nicola been whisked off over the border to

Arrowe Park Hospital, there would have been another 90 minute wait

for the ambulance to come to pick her up and then another 90 minutes

for her to get to the hospital. They are putting more stress on the

mother, the baby, the family. Babies could lose their lives

through this. The health board says it cannot attract enough

specialists to the region and its plans will improve the service. It

will also save �1.1 million. But the plans have turned into a PR

nightmare because the new unit is outside Wales. It will be very

difficult for families and I accept that. I still think this is the

best solution despite those types of concerns. People do have to

travel long distances and they accept travelling long distances in

North Wales. My view is that if they recognise they are getting the

best possible care for their very young, very small babies, they will

think that is worthwhile. Arrowe Park Hospital has had problems of

its own. Last November, a letter was leaked from the head of its

midwifery service raising serious issues about the standard of care.

There were concerns about record- keeping, rude staff, poor

communication, poor care for some patients. Would you admit a what

they were doing so be was not good enough? I am aware of some of those

issues. It is very regrettable that those kind of statements were made.

We have sought assurance from Arrowe Park Hospital that they have

a say that quality service and we have been provided with that

assurance. If we have any sense that we cannot provide for those

babies well, we will ensure that they are provided in a better

environment. Where would that be? Most likely at the Liverpool

Women's Hospital. That is even further away. Yes but it is

essential that we provide the right kind of care for those babies. To

put into context, we are talking around 36 babies a year that need

this type of intensive care. We will still have 700 babies being

managed within North Wales within a special care baby units. Some or

staff are so worried they have asked their professional bodies to

intervene. We have, in an unprecedented way, come together on

this particular matter. Those nurses and doctors have come

together to say, "This is wrong for North Wales, wrong for our patients,

and we have got to speak out". members do not believe they have

been consulted and that their concerns have been fully taken into

account. What price do you put on a life at that age? The health board

insists that its plans are based on clinical evidence. While the

arguments continue, hospitals still have to deliver. But there is a

warning - it is getting harder. And this is often the first sign of

trouble - ambulances queuing outside A&E because there are not

enough beds. So times we have patients in areas where we did not

like them to be. -- sometimes. Consultant Mark Poulden represents

the College of emergency medicine in Wales. Certainly this year, I

would say on most days of the year we have had patients in the

Department longer than they have needed to be. If they are coming in

on an ambulance, they often remain on an ambulance stretcher,

sometimes in an ambulance outside. He works at the A&E department of

Morriston Hospital in Swansea. Morriston Hospital is like any of

the large departments in Wales - and extreme pressure.

Intolerable pressure? I think it is sustained and I think that the

staff are under extreme pressure every day. Mark Poulden says his

colleagues in other Welsh hospitals say they cannot meet targets for

waiting time. There is a broad target of trying to get people

through within about four hours. I think across Wales, we have had

patients who have been at up to 12 and even 24 hours within the

emergency department waiting for beds. Do doctors and nurses, under

these circumstances, have the time to be able to do the job in the way

they would like to? The truth of that, no. I think we do our best

but I think that is one of the most frustrating things despite

everything, knowing that at the end of the day you have not read the

done what you have really wanted to for the patient. And you may have

taken some short cuts to try to do the best for everyone that is in

Between August and December last year, hospitals in five out of six

Welsh health boards were over 82% full.

Beverley was moved to four different wards during her five

days at Morriston and male and female patients had to share

bathrooms. I went into the toilet which was

open and when I got in there this gentleman was, well naked really

and trying to clean his bottom. Every time I went into that toilet

I would have to clean it because there would be excrement on the

toilets and when I mentioned it to the nurse, the fact that the the

toilets were unclean and unhygienic, "We are not allowed to do it

because of health and safety. Only the cleaners can do that." I found

a tub with like hygienic wipes and I I pinched some of them. I brought

them out and I kept them and every time I went into the toilet I wiped

around and cleaned everything. And I would say to them, "I have

cleaned the toilet." "ah, thank you.". The hospital is

investigating Beverley's concerns about hygiene. It says it regularly

does spot checks on cleanliness and nurses are allowed to clean toilets

when necessary. Beverley's husband said staff seemed under pressure.

have to stick up for the nursing staff because they were overwhelmed

and there wasn't enough of them to manage the level of patients they

had. Since New Year, the hospital has

increased staffing in A&E, but it is trying to recruit more doctors.

Hywel has complained about what happened to Beverley. We have

discovered across Wales, there has been a big rise in the number of

complaints about the NHS. And this is where many patients come to

complain. The numbers of complaints to my office have increased

dramatically since it was established in 2006, we have a 255%

increase in health complaints to this office which is very

significant. Of the health complaints we investigate, we

uphold more than half. Since last year, Peter Tyndall's team dealt

with 700 cases of patients who said they were let down. Part of it is

due to the high-profile of the office and the higher profile of

the complaints system within the NHS. Some of it inevitably has to

be down to the fact there is growing dissatisfaction about the

quality of care that people are receiving. Are people being treated

as people? Are they receiving food? Just basic, the basics of care. We

also have particular worries about the quality of monitoring and

record keeping and so on, and you can't continue with the NHS as it

is currently delivered to meet ever increasing levels of need with

finite resources. Unless you you change, the services will become

less safe. What does the Health Minister make

of this? The ombudsman has seen a rise in

complaints of 255% since 2006, concerning the Welsh NHS. That

doesn't sound like a system that's succeeding? Well, I disagree. We

have put regulation ins place where people know know how to complain

and if something has gone wrong they have every right to complain.

We have an NHS in Wales to be proud of. I get fed-up of people talking

it down. When I go into healthcare settings, I don't think I have come

across a patient who criticised. Of course things go wrong. When you

have human beings treating human beings there will be times when

things go wrong. There will be people listening to

this and thinking perhaps you live in a parallel universe. There is no

end of complaints. The hole system is creeking and groaning. It is

falling apart and it is falling apart on your watch. Had is why we

have to reconfigure because we are concern if we don't do something

now, services will collapse. I don't live in a parallel universe.

Health boards have been consuling the public over NHS reform, but

their critics say the hole process has been -- whole process has been

an expensive farce and it is about to become the Welsh Health

Minister's worst nightmare. Plan to say change the A&E cover here at

Prince Philip Hospital caused outrage. They were among proposals

for Mid and West Wales published by the the Hywel Dda health board.

Plans for a nurse-led unit angered protesters who have been meeting to

plan a campaign. We are all behind each other 100%

and we won't back down because they are wrong and we're not.

Last year, in a vocal campaign, they presented the biggest petition

ever seen at the the Parliament. They think their voice and their

petition has been ignored. Something the health board denies.

And I think they think because we have got a deprived population with

lots of poverty that we are all stupid. We will be convinced by

this wonderful document that tells us we are going to have a

marvellous new service when we know we will have less service.

Hywel Dda has spent over �125,000 on its consultation process. In

Llanelli it hasn't not paid off. Anybody with a bit of grey matter

can see this is fraud. The health board told us they have

listened to objections but insist its plans are for the best. Do you

say that you have consulted sufficiently? You have talked to

people in that community and informed them properly of what your

plans are? We are confident in terms of the 12 month listening

engagement and consultation process that has been under taken.

But that's why a consultation process of that type, it is so

important to win over the hearts and minds of the people and you

just haven't done it, have you? will never get 1 100% of the people

agreeing with every change and every challenge that the NHS faces

and I do agree that this is an ongoing challenge for the whole of

the NHS and Hywel Dda being a major part of that.

The local community health council is the watchdog which has powers to

refer the plans back to the Health Minister. They have called the

consultation a charade. These are the words that have been

said to me by many people out there, members of the public, they feel

that the whole thing has been a charade. And not everybody might

agree with their conclusions, but they have listened and they have

consulted? On the face of it, yes, you would have to argue they did

listen, but sometimes you wonder, you know, did it come into one ear

and go out the other? He is not convinced that Hywel

Dda's plans are best for patients. As far as I'm concerned it is about

money. We did say from the beginning of this, that we wouldn't

let money become the obstacle for the delivery of good services. It

is very, very difficult from our point of view to see where those

better services will be delivered. The campaigners are still up for

the fight. Local Labour politicians including

MP, Nia Griffiths, are among the protesters.

I don't think they have come up with the solution because they

realise... But what would she do if the Labour Health Minister sided

with the health board, instead of her voters in Llanelli? It would be

a difficult position for me. Would you resign? She is in charge

of health and the assembly... you resign? Well, let's see what

happens on that. Have you thought about it? Well,

the key thing at the moment is to try to get things right. I think it

is very important that we talk about things. That we don't rush

off in a huff to do this, that or the other, but we try to get the

best best options that we can. In the campaign meeting, one local

Labour stalwart had enough. I am sorry to say I have resigned

for the Labour Party over this and I have been voting for the Labour

Party since 1958 and I regret I have got to hand my card in. It is

disgusting, I think. If they can, they say they will

challenge, Hywel Dda in the courts. The public of Llanelli will take it

the hole way. I don't think they will give the fight up easily. I am

sure this time, they will take it all the way.

Illustrating the tension between the health board and community

health council, Tony Wales has accused them of using undue

pressure against him and their own staff.

I have had certain pressures that have been exerted on me, but I am

big enough and ugly enough to look after myself, I don't worry too

much about that, but I worry for those clinicians because I have got

clinicians that have come to me directly and indirectly and

allegedly saying, "We want to speak out. There is a real fear culture

in terms of if we say anything, life already made -- will be made

very, very wack ard for us.". health board deny the allegations,

he says he has a urgent duty to discuss these matters with them.

The board says it is talking to its doctors about how to introduce the

changes to A&E. The relationship between the Hywel Dda health board

and its community health council seems to be strained. What would

you say about that? We consider the community health council a key

partner in the planning and the implementation. It is important to

keep that dialogue going and keep that relationship in terms of open,

and transparency. I am confident that we have the plans now in place

for us to start implementing a service that is far safer and far

more sustainable. Would you and your colleagues stake your jobs on

that? We have committed as a board that we are confident that the

models that we have put forward are the right ones for Hywel Dda.

As they try to find a way forward, the community health council met

the health board again today. For her part, the minister insists that

consultation is working. Well, what you have got in West Wales is the

community health council and the health board at each others throats.

There is a possibility that the changes in North Wales could be

referred to you too. These decisions might end up on your

desk? Yes, I am aware of that. you are prepared to make tough

decisions that are going to upset Labour voters in Labour heartlands,

are you? It is not about upsetting people. I want the best services we

can have in Wales. Right across Wales, of course, I will have to

make tough decisions, I am not in this job to not make tough

decisions, I am not going to shy away from tough decisions, if we

don't do anything now, we will have a Health Service where some

services will collapse. I can't let that happen.

How Popular do you think you are in Flint? You are not in this job to

be popular, but I know I would not be able to sleep in my bed if I

allowed services to collapse. I will not support unsafe services

and if I was, you would be the first to criticise me.

Last week, outside the minister's constituency office, there was

plenty of critics. Let us assure you, Lesley Griffiths,

there are plenty of people ready to fight for a descend NHS in North

Wales. If you betray that trust, he will not go away, will we?

We will not forget when the next election comes around, will we?

Thank you very much. Fantastic. It has been a shambles. The public

consultation process has been a disaster and I would call upon the

minister. Betsi Cadwaladr health board spent

�126,000 on consultation, but it brought cross party crit criticism.

The Wales Office need to look at whether these consultations are

value for money. Hundreds of thousands of taxpayers money has

been expenned orch on trying to engage the public in decision

making and the outcome of the consultations appears to most

people, to have been ignored. That is not good good use of taxpayers

money. The health board will know by 1st

March if the minister is going to intervene in the row over its plans.

Arrowe Park told us it believes it has one of the best maternity

services in the region and is assessing its services.

It says since the leaked letter, it has been audited by regulators who

gave positive feedback, but for the campaigners like the Hewitts', the

fight isn't over. It is not the health board who will

be going through the unit. It is these families and they are the

important ones. At the end of the day, we are right.

You can't put these families through this, but we'll fight it to

the end. But have they already lost? Some

campaigners fear it maybe a foregone conclusion.

It has been suggested if it is referred back to you, it will be a

waste of time because you will rubber stamp the decision that the

health boards made? I will not rubber stamp anything. I will have

to look at it in great detail. Is there a chance that some of the

closures might not happen? We will look at it by a case by case basis.

The other health boards will publish their prescription for

change and more protests will follow. But whatever form it takes,

change must come. Unless there is significant change, it is very

difficult to see how the complaint totals won't continue to rise. I

think the status quo isn't workable. It is increasingly going to

Joan is back with the family and feeling better after her ordeal.

Beverley is continuing to receive treatment, both are recovering, but

their faith in the NHS still has not been restored.