:00:00. > :00:09.Tonight on the Wales Report: Monitoring standards in the NHS but
:00:10. > :00:12.is the Welsh system up to the task? Bridging the skills gap among Welsh
:00:13. > :00:16.workers, but does the new strategy go far enough?
:00:17. > :00:20.And National Poet, Gillian Clarke, on why a love of literature is the
:00:21. > :00:33.key to improving literacy standards in Wales. Stay with us for the Wales
:00:34. > :00:37.Report. Good evening and welcome to the Wales Report where we take a
:00:38. > :00:40.look at the issues affecting lives in Wales and question some of those
:00:41. > :00:43.making the decisions. A series of scandals in the NHS has raised
:00:44. > :00:48.serious concerns about patient safety in hospitals. In Wales there
:00:49. > :00:52.are concerns that the organisation monitoring standards, Health Care
:00:53. > :00:58.Inspectorate Wales, is not up to the job. The Wales Report has been told
:00:59. > :01:00.that in the next few weeks the National Assembly's Health and
:01:01. > :01:03.Social Care Committee is going to call for reform of the Inspectorate
:01:04. > :01:07.following criticism from people inside and external stakeholders.
:01:08. > :01:16.The underlying concern is that patients' safety is being put at
:01:17. > :01:19.risk as Helen Callaghan reports. Weak management and poor
:01:20. > :01:23.communication. Just two of the failings that led to an increase in
:01:24. > :01:29.cases of the C.difficile log. The man running Wales 's biggest
:01:30. > :01:32.hospital has offered an unreserved apology to the families of people
:01:33. > :01:37.who died while waiting heart surgery. Scandals have shaken our
:01:38. > :01:41.faith in the professionals who look of reds. When things go wrong we
:01:42. > :01:47.want to know who has been watching over them. Here, Health Care
:01:48. > :01:52.Inspectorate Wales is the chief regulator. Part of the Welsh
:01:53. > :01:59.Government, it is meant to act independently to ensure all services
:02:00. > :02:03.and to standard. It has had the responsibility since 2004. It is the
:02:04. > :02:08.organisation 's 10th birthday this year. You won't find too many people
:02:09. > :02:12.here that the offices ready to celebrate. Just recently they have
:02:13. > :02:17.been on the receiving end of a series of devious and inane
:02:18. > :02:41.criticisms. Ash Celia and stinging criticisms.
:02:42. > :02:47.There has also been criticism on how the Inspectorate works with other
:02:48. > :02:51.watchdogs. That includes Wales 's community health councils. They
:02:52. > :02:56.regularly inspect services and collect data about patient
:02:57. > :03:02.experiences which they can share with HCIW. They are worried about
:03:03. > :03:08.the Inspectorate ability to use it. There is a lack of the source and an
:03:09. > :03:16.intelligence Blackall where we can provide the data and we need to
:03:17. > :03:22.ensure we do that in a reliable way that in a form the Inspectorate can
:03:23. > :03:26.use. When it gets to HIW, we don't have the perception it is being used
:03:27. > :03:34.effectively. There are concerns if their information is not being acted
:03:35. > :03:38.upon, problems could be missed. One would assume that if you are not
:03:39. > :03:44.utilising the intelligence we give you, a heads up the service is not
:03:45. > :03:50.as effective as it should be, people would suffer as a result. Another
:03:51. > :03:54.persistent complaint about Health Care Inspectorate Wales is following
:03:55. > :03:59.its own investigations is taking too long to publish reports and action
:04:00. > :04:04.plans. Looking at the websites, we found that after an inspection on a
:04:05. > :04:08.spot check, on average there was at least a five-month wait before any
:04:09. > :04:15.report came out. In some cases it was a year before anything was
:04:16. > :04:22.published. Mental health charity, Hafal said it is vital the reporter
:04:23. > :04:26.then as soon as possible. It takes a long time for the reporter come out.
:04:27. > :04:32.There is a chance problems will continue to occur in the particular
:04:33. > :04:34.agency where the problem occurred or elsewhere because they haven't
:04:35. > :04:38.learned their lesson. It is important we learn quickly what
:04:39. > :04:43.happens. Recent scandals demonstrate in adequate scrutiny of health
:04:44. > :04:49.services can jeopardise patient safety. When it emerged hundreds of
:04:50. > :04:53.patients died needlessly at a hospital in midst of a chip,
:04:54. > :05:00.England's health regulator was heavily criticised for failing to
:05:01. > :05:04.uncover what is going on. Hospital in Staffordshire. In Wales when
:05:05. > :05:08.questioned by the assemblies Health Committee during an enquiry into the
:05:09. > :05:14.Inspectorate 's work, HIW Chief Executive admitted a similar -- if a
:05:15. > :05:21.similar situation arose year, it could go and detected. My concern at
:05:22. > :05:26.the moment in terms of being able to give you the assurance you want, is
:05:27. > :05:30.I am not convinced that we have sufficient coverage in terms of
:05:31. > :05:34.testing for me to be able to give you that assurance. Doctor
:05:35. > :05:37.Chamberlain said given more resources she would like all major
:05:38. > :05:43.hospitals in Wales to receive at least two unannounced inspections
:05:44. > :05:49.every year. She confessed currently inspections and only being carried
:05:50. > :06:03.out once every three years. I think it is about one in three. We quite
:06:04. > :06:07.away. -- we're quite away. The Inspectorate did issue a statement
:06:08. > :06:15.saying it recognises that external scrutiny and challenge is critical.
:06:16. > :06:20.It is expected that further scrutiny is likely to come in the next few
:06:21. > :06:25.weeks when the Health Committee publishes its findings following its
:06:26. > :06:28.enquiry into the Inspectorate. The Wales reporter understands it might
:06:29. > :06:32.make uncomfortable reading for the inspect threats. We have been told
:06:33. > :06:36.the committee is likely to recommend the Welsh Government carries out a
:06:37. > :06:44.root and branch review of high be inspected at operates. Many argue
:06:45. > :06:50.that radical change is exactly what is needed if patients are to get the
:06:51. > :06:54.regulator they deserve. The lesson of bad things that have happened,
:06:55. > :07:01.both in England and in Wales, is that we need a robust and reliable
:07:02. > :07:05.and trusted regulator. Helen Callaghan reporting. Joining
:07:06. > :07:12.me now from our Westminster studio is the MP for Cynon Valley, Labour's
:07:13. > :07:16.Ann Clwyd. She has been campaigning to improve standards in hospitals in
:07:17. > :07:19.Wales and England. She produced a comprehensive report last year on
:07:20. > :07:27.the way ahead. Thank you very much for joining us. How you concerned
:07:28. > :07:32.are you? I don't think it is fit for purpose. The Health Care
:07:33. > :07:36.Inspectorate Wales which is supposed to be the regulator says itself it
:07:37. > :07:41.can't manage, it can't assure people that is not a mid Staffordshire
:07:42. > :07:49.situation in some Welsh hospitals, the fact they have and be sourced --
:07:50. > :07:54.and the resort and all the organisations that have given
:07:55. > :07:59.evidence have lots of criticisms. They are calling for the Chief
:08:00. > :08:02.Executive of hospitals in Wales. I have been concerned about several
:08:03. > :08:07.issues in the NHS in Wales because of the hundreds of letters I
:08:08. > :08:15.received from people in Wales. What to say to be worse, especially
:08:16. > :08:24.workers in the NHS, who would save -- say you are them and bring --
:08:25. > :08:30.scaremongering? I am simply quoting from the health spectre that Wales
:08:31. > :08:34.which for some time has not been able to act effectively as a
:08:35. > :08:39.regulator. That is a concern. What happened in mid Staffordshire is the
:08:40. > :08:44.people who were supposed to regulate weren't able to do their job, did
:08:45. > :08:52.not do their job. That is why you have a new commission in England
:08:53. > :08:56.because the body that was in being beforehand simply did not do the job
:08:57. > :09:02.and stop I am afraid that is the same situation in Wales. If the
:09:03. > :09:08.Inspectorate Chief Executive herself said she can't promise that isn't a
:09:09. > :09:11.similar situation in Wales, that is a cause for concern. I have had
:09:12. > :09:18.whistle-blowers get in touch with me. I would like more to get in
:09:19. > :09:21.touch with me. I would protect their identities. I had the consultant
:09:22. > :09:27.sending me an e-mail saying he wanted to tell me he no longer
:09:28. > :09:32.wanted to work in the NHS in Wales because he could not give his
:09:33. > :09:35.patients the care they needed. Did he offer any views why he wasn't
:09:36. > :09:41.able to provide the standard of care? Was it a question of
:09:42. > :09:49.resources? Is it how the health service is managed? He was not able
:09:50. > :09:54.to give people, patients were being referred all being referred to
:09:55. > :09:59.late. He wasn't able to carry out the diagnosis that he wished to
:10:00. > :10:04.carry out. He could not give people the scans he thought they should
:10:05. > :10:11.have. I have had several others say similar things. You have only got to
:10:12. > :10:16.look at what is going on, I think there is a cover as far as some of
:10:17. > :10:22.the figures are concerned. I made these points to the First Minister,
:10:23. > :10:28.I made them to the Minister for health in Wales. I have been
:10:29. > :10:35.pressing on all these things for a long time. In that sense, the
:10:36. > :10:40.arguments people have for merging these two Inspectorate in Wales, the
:10:41. > :10:46.health care is that and then the care inspected the is, what should
:10:47. > :10:51.happen? I am not a person who can say what reorganisation should be
:10:52. > :10:57.taking place. I am saying there should be a keyhole style inspection
:10:58. > :11:03.in Wales of the hospitals with the highest mortality rates. Once you do
:11:04. > :11:10.that, you can put some hospitals, if the need to be put, into special
:11:11. > :11:15.measures. That is imperative. A proper health inspected it which is
:11:16. > :11:23.better resourced, not run on the same lines? A proper health
:11:24. > :11:28.inspected it. Look at the Care Quality Commission in England. That
:11:29. > :11:33.has been criticising itself. We should have a chief inspector of
:11:34. > :11:39.hospitals as the do in England. In fact, Professor Sir Mike Richards is
:11:40. > :11:46.making sure the report that I wrote a few months ago on complaints and
:11:47. > :11:50.the way to deal with complaints, is actually being put into practice. I
:11:51. > :11:55.will be checking up on that in six months time. Just a final point, you
:11:56. > :11:59.mentioned you have been in touch with the First Minister, have the
:12:00. > :12:09.responses from the Welsh Government team satisfactory? To be frank, no.
:12:10. > :12:20.I am still waiting for a reply. I have had a holding reply. I visited
:12:21. > :12:26.Carwyn Jones, the First Minister, at the end of November. I wrote to him
:12:27. > :12:30.on December the 3rd, I have had a holding reply and two months have
:12:31. > :12:35.gone by. I don't consider that satisfactory. We hope to get answers
:12:36. > :12:39.in the next few weeks. Thank you very much for joining us.
:12:40. > :12:43.Is there a skills shortage in the Welsh workforce? 11.4% of the
:12:44. > :12:47.working age population in Wales have no qualifications, that's a higher
:12:48. > :12:50.proportion than the UK average. Wales also ranks poorly in education
:12:51. > :12:53.indicators such as the international league tables PISA and the warnings
:12:54. > :12:58.are clear, that an under-skilled workforce is damaging the Welsh
:12:59. > :13:01.economy. Speaking on this programme last month the economist and Welsh
:13:02. > :13:08.Government adviser, Gerald Holtham, had this message.
:13:09. > :13:11.Our educational standards are slipping behind those of the rest of
:13:12. > :13:15.the UK and certainly behind the best places in Europe. We have got to
:13:16. > :13:18.turn that around. EV want technical businesses here, large companies
:13:19. > :13:23.here, what they want is a trained workforce. Youth unemployment in
:13:24. > :13:26.Wales is also high there are currently 3,545 young people aged
:13:27. > :13:30.between 16 and 24 claiming unemployment benefits for a year or
:13:31. > :13:33.more. Some in the business community say that while they are happy to
:13:34. > :13:38.provide training, schools in Wales should do more to prepare young
:13:39. > :13:44.people for the world of work. The private sector should be involved. I
:13:45. > :13:49.think it is the responsibility of the education sector to provide a
:13:50. > :13:53.workforce that is numerous and literate and has the basic skills
:13:54. > :13:56.the private sector needs. Last week the Welsh Government launched a ten
:13:57. > :14:00.year strategy to boost skills in the workplace. I'm joined now by the
:14:01. > :14:09.Deputy Minister for Skills, Labour's Ken Skates. This figure of over 11%
:14:10. > :14:13.of the working age population in Wales without qualifications, when
:14:14. > :14:23.is that likely to come down to the English average? We are driving down
:14:24. > :14:26.those figures by getting people who need the skills, to give them the
:14:27. > :14:32.skills and we have the essential skills in the workplace programme
:14:33. > :14:35.and earlier today I was with a home care service giving them the pledge
:14:36. > :14:42.because that employer has done the right thing and recognise many
:14:43. > :14:48.employees need essential skills and literacy, numerous and ICT. Skills
:14:49. > :14:52.they did not pick up at school. Yes, ICT skills are constantly
:14:53. > :14:57.changing because we need to up skilled people in that domain to
:14:58. > :15:02.make sure the gap in the market can be addressed and plugged.
:15:03. > :15:07.Basic numerous ER literacy are things which employers should not be
:15:08. > :15:11.having to teach. You could ask that question of any government anywhere
:15:12. > :15:16.in the world. What we are doing and precious few are doing is taking
:15:17. > :15:20.action, we are implementing the long-term plan to lift up the
:15:21. > :15:24.essential skills. You have no choice because standards are so low.
:15:25. > :15:31.Employers need to engage with government.
:15:32. > :15:35.With European money we are funnelling -- funding essential
:15:36. > :15:41.skills across Wales. When can people see results, based the international
:15:42. > :15:46.league tables and the school results and Baron Barris in some cases.
:15:47. > :15:53.When will we see measurable results? We are already seeing results,
:15:54. > :15:57.skills training is increasing between us and England. We are
:15:58. > :16:03.seeing a vast improvement in terms of employability of young people.
:16:04. > :16:06.We measure that by the amount of young people not in education,
:16:07. > :16:13.employment or training. Wales has developed -- delivered the
:16:14. > :16:18.sharpest fall in the proportion of young people... We recognise it has
:16:19. > :16:25.been stubborn and too high and we have set a target of 9% to be
:16:26. > :16:28.sustained by 2017 for that group of 16 to 18-year-olds.
:16:29. > :16:32.We are pushing that figure down dramatically.
:16:33. > :16:37.Why are we in a position in 2014 where Wales which has had such a
:16:38. > :16:41.wonderful track record in vocational training where we are taking
:16:42. > :16:46.emergency measures to catch up, what's gone wrong?
:16:47. > :16:50.They are sustainable measures. The policies we are implementing in
:16:51. > :16:56.tandem with employers and learning providers will last the test of
:16:57. > :17:01.time. Traditionally the Welsh economy has been based around heavy
:17:02. > :17:06.industry, that industry was decimated in the 1980s and
:17:07. > :17:10.communities were based around strong ethics of community learning, based
:17:11. > :17:16.around the workplace. That was troubled by the experience of the
:17:17. > :17:19.1980s. We are having to put together many communities to reinvigorate the
:17:20. > :17:23.sense of learning. Let's spell out the consequences of
:17:24. > :17:30.not getting to where you want to get to. One of the warnings we reported
:17:31. > :17:34.on was people want to invest in Wales, they will look at the quality
:17:35. > :17:40.of education and the basic skills, if we don't get to a better place,
:17:41. > :17:45.the consequences are dire. You have justified why we have
:17:46. > :17:50.implemented this strategy. We have worked hand-in-hand with
:17:51. > :17:57.employers, further education and universities and the trade unions,
:17:58. > :18:00.and the CBI, to make sure we take collective responsibility to drive
:18:01. > :18:05.up skills in society so we can capture a higher proportion of those
:18:06. > :18:10.jobs because we need to recall that over the past decade we have seen a
:18:11. > :18:15.deep crease in the number of lower skilled jobs in the Western world.
:18:16. > :18:20.This is part of the trend in the Western world. We need to make sure
:18:21. > :18:23.we lift the average level of skills up so we capture higher-level
:18:24. > :18:28.skilled jobs. I mentioned the International table
:18:29. > :18:33.results which has caused banks to. Will that improved by 2016 and how
:18:34. > :18:38.important is it that Wales moves up the table in terms of literacy and
:18:39. > :18:43.numerous sea and science? The Minister for education and First
:18:44. > :18:48.Minister say it is vital we raise standards.
:18:49. > :18:52.My concern is that we improve employability skills, these are
:18:53. > :18:56.often attitudes, making sure people have the right attitude to the
:18:57. > :19:00.workplace, their work ready and they have the basic skills. It is no good
:19:01. > :19:05.at educating the population, you need to make sure the population are
:19:06. > :19:09.able to apply what they learn to the world of work so we are looking at
:19:10. > :19:15.schemes like the using gauge meant framework to give young people a
:19:16. > :19:18.guarantee of a suitable place post-16. It doesn't just recognise
:19:19. > :19:25.their skills Peter Lines their skills and hopes and missions with
:19:26. > :19:30.where they want to be -- but lines. In two, three, four years time?
:19:31. > :19:37.Are we going to see measurable improvements because we can talk
:19:38. > :19:43.about aspirations endlessly. Give us a sense of what the goals are, how
:19:44. > :19:48.can we measure success? 2017, we will reduce the proportion of young
:19:49. > :19:54.people who are not in education, employment or training to 9% and
:19:55. > :19:57.keep it at that level or lower. Minister, thank you for coming in.
:19:58. > :20:00.The events organised to celebrate the centenary of Dylan Thomas' birth
:20:01. > :20:02.are well underway. Wales' National Poet Gillian Clarke believes that
:20:03. > :20:06.encouraging people to read more books and poetry by native authors
:20:07. > :20:11.is the key to tackling poor literacy levels. We caught up with her at a
:20:12. > :20:12.poets' retreat organized by Literature Wales on the theme of
:20:13. > :20:33.another great Thomas -- RS Thomas. The cat and see. It is a matter of a
:20:34. > :20:42.black cat on their clifftop in March. His eyes anticipate the
:20:43. > :20:49.petals. The formal equation of a domestic per with the cold interiors
:20:50. > :20:55.of the Seas mirror. I became a poet partly because I bet
:20:56. > :21:00.a beautiful poem called the cat and the sea and after doing Shelley,
:21:01. > :21:07.Wordsworth, Tennyson, Shakespeare, this man called Thomas had this
:21:08. > :21:12.beautiful poem. I was knocked out. I read it again and again. How has he
:21:13. > :21:20.done that, how has he done it? I can remember owing to schools years ago
:21:21. > :21:27.grumbling that there were no Welsh poets studied in Wales and teachers
:21:28. > :21:37.said there aren't any good enough. Can you believe it? I would like to
:21:38. > :21:44.see everybody reading something, some of the people here are for a
:21:45. > :21:48.retreat. One man said I knew nothing about poetry and I have never
:21:49. > :21:57.written and he has been so engaged in it. I would like to solve the
:21:58. > :22:07.literacy problem in Wales, we used to be the best in Britain. What has
:22:08. > :22:13.happened? There is no time for the most important thing in education
:22:14. > :22:21.and that is creativity. No success has ever been had in chemistry. In
:22:22. > :22:24.mathematics. In any thing unless creativity and imagination have been
:22:25. > :22:30.at the core. It couldn't be more important. It is very exciting for a
:22:31. > :22:36.child to discover characters from their life on the page. And scenes
:22:37. > :22:41.from their life on the page. I would like to see all children doing some
:22:42. > :22:47.writing every week in school. I would like them reading every day, I
:22:48. > :22:52.want them to read whole books and not just chapters. We need to be the
:22:53. > :22:56.best in Britain where we are lagging behind. I want all of the children
:22:57. > :23:00.reading better than English children. If you were all excited
:23:01. > :23:05.about what we read and write we would feel proud of ourselves and we
:23:06. > :23:15.would be better at dealing with the other educational things. I want
:23:16. > :23:18.people to feel affirmed. There is a challenge. Joining me now is
:23:19. > :23:21.Leighton Andrews, the Labour AM for the Rhondda and a former Education
:23:22. > :23:30.Minister and performance poet Claire Potter. Thank you for coming. There
:23:31. > :23:37.was a question in the middle of that piece, we were the best in Wales,
:23:38. > :23:41.what's gone wrong? I think we were not as focused as we should have
:23:42. > :23:46.been on the standard in schools over the last decade. We took our eye off
:23:47. > :23:51.the ball. It has been excepted by others and in terms of creativity we
:23:52. > :23:55.introduced the foundation phase enabling young people to learn
:23:56. > :24:02.through doing, it enables them to act creatively -- creatively and has
:24:03. > :24:05.been welcomed by not just those in education but those beyond in terms
:24:06. > :24:14.of what it allows young people to do. What is your experience, what I
:24:15. > :24:20.can people saying? They left poetry and experience and I find we begin
:24:21. > :24:25.with a poem but we connect it to their own lives and characters
:24:26. > :24:28.meaningful to them. What I'm hearing from teachers if that was
:24:29. > :24:34.wonderful. If only I had the time do that. There are constraints of
:24:35. > :24:38.targets and league tables and teachers are under pressure so they
:24:39. > :24:43.don't have the space to think creatively and do what they are
:24:44. > :24:51.passionate about. How does that process of engaging
:24:52. > :24:55.with a vehicle like poetry will translate directly into better
:24:56. > :25:01.literacy standards as measured by international organisations which
:25:02. > :25:05.have been causing us problems? If you go into a school with a poem,
:25:06. > :25:10.you don't just teach the poem, you ask the children how it connects and
:25:11. > :25:14.relates and then they write so when we look at grammar and punctuation,
:25:15. > :25:19.it is not in isolation or something far removed. They come to understand
:25:20. > :25:24.in their work which is important to them if they use a comma or a; they
:25:25. > :25:32.are understanding the meaning because it connects to them. And
:25:33. > :25:37.Tuohy focus too much on tight measures on rigorous measures -- do
:25:38. > :25:41.we focus too much and should we let the season -- system to be more
:25:42. > :25:47.flexible? We don't have league tables for primary schools. Let's be
:25:48. > :25:52.clear, what Claire is doing is fantastic and it is going on across
:25:53. > :25:58.Wales. Children's authors, children writing reviews of films. I brought
:25:59. > :26:04.a film club in to boost literacy and numerous sea. There is a huge amount
:26:05. > :26:13.of creativity going on. Gwyn Thomas pot-macro Centenary was last year
:26:14. > :26:23.and Rachel is judging one for schools. --'s. The question then is
:26:24. > :26:27.when can we see that commendable activity translating into better
:26:28. > :26:33.performance and a less in harassing showing for Wales in the league
:26:34. > :26:38.tables? You don't want a simplistic crude alignment of creative it --
:26:39. > :26:46.creative activities. It does broaden people's understanding and I asked
:26:47. > :26:52.Di Smith to carry out a full review of the arts and education engaged
:26:53. > :26:57.and I produced age in this report well written report last summer
:26:58. > :27:03.which Hugh Lewis is looking at about how we bring that in.
:27:04. > :27:09.Finally, engaging and people, are we promoting the right kinds of poets
:27:10. > :27:16.and authors, there was a big Dylan Thomas industry, it is a big
:27:17. > :27:23.momentum, we saw RS Thomas, very little mention of him, Gwyn Thomas
:27:24. > :27:29.concentrating on the right authors and poets? I would say no. When I
:27:30. > :27:33.taught at a school in Cardiff I was surprised and was still using the
:27:34. > :27:39.same texts I was taught at school if you years ago. We need to rethink
:27:40. > :27:45.that and more Welsh authors to make it more relevant and more real in
:27:46. > :27:53.our language so it is more accessible. Examples. Nigel Jenkins,
:27:54. > :27:58.RS Thomas, Gillian Clark. RB in the right place? The opportunity is
:27:59. > :28:02.there, we invested as a Welsh government taking the novels of
:28:03. > :28:06.Wales into Welsh secondary schools. It is in the curriculum. The issue
:28:07. > :28:11.is are the teachers sufficiently equipped with a knowledge of Welsh
:28:12. > :28:15.literature in various forms from drama to poetry to teach that in the
:28:16. > :28:20.curriculum, it is a question we should look at but the opportunity
:28:21. > :28:23.is there. That is a different debate for another time. Thank you for
:28:24. > :28:26.coming in. That's it for this week's programme.
:28:27. > :28:30.We'll be taking a break next week, but in the meantime you can get in
:28:31. > :28:33.touch with us about the issues discussed tonight, or indeed
:28:34. > :28:36.anything else. E-mail us at thewalesreport@bbc.co.uk and we are
:28:37. > :28:38.on Twitter. Thanks for watching. Good night. Nos da.