Cwm Taf maternity review: Conservatives call for senior sackings

The review looked into services at hospitals controlled by the Cwm Taf health board

Conservatives have called for senior figures at an NHS board and Wales' health minister to be sacked over a damning report on maternity services.

A review of the services at Cwm Taf health board found they were under "extreme pressure" and "dysfunctional".

Darren Millar said that "not one person has had the decency to resign".

Cwm Taf's chairman has blamed a "toxic" culture for the problems. Health Minister Vaughan Gething has said he is determined to see improvements.

• Baby death mum 'scared' of using hospital

• Q&A: Cwm Taf maternity problems

• Mums 'ignored and made to feel worthless'

The maternity services were placed in special measures following the review, which uncovered failings at the Royal Glamorgan and Prince Charles hospitals in the south Wales valleys.

It was prompted by concerns about the deaths of a number of babies.

Mr Millar, the party's acting health spokesman, told the Welsh Conservative conference in Llangollen on Saturday the care that led to the deaths had been "appalling".

"Mothers, fathers and families who've lost their next generation and been let down by failures in governance, leadership and a system which has disregarded their concerns," he said.

"Yet, in spite of this scandal, not one person has had the decency to resign.

"Neither the chair of the board, which was said to have failed in its basic governance requirements, or the chief executive of the Cwm Taf health board, responsible for the senior staff who failed to report matters to the board or the Welsh Government, or the Health Minister, Vaughan Gething, who always takes the credit when things go right but washes his hands when things go wrong.

"Conference, it's not good enough.

"These individuals should accept their responsibility for what went wrong - no ifs, not buts, no big payoffs - they should be sacked. This lack of accountability in our health service has got to change."

Darren Millar: "No ifs, not buts, no big payoffs - they should be sacked"

The leader of the Conservatives in the assembly, Paul Davies, has also demanded Mr Gething and health board leaders should resign.

Mr Millar called for reform of a key NHS watchdog in the wake of the report, saying Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW) should have more powers and a "radical overhaul".

He is proposing a substantial budget increase and an expansion of the programme of unannounced inspections.

He wants to make the body entirely independent of the Welsh Government and give it new powers to intervene quickly when problems are identified.

The AM for Clwyd West said the changes were needed after concerns that the problems at Cwm Taf took too long to come to light.

Earlier this week, Health Minister Vaughan Gething insisted he was "far from complacent" about his responsibilities "not only in the sense of the whole performance of the service, not just the challenges but the good that the service does, but my responsibility to see through the improvement that I recognise is plainly required and [I'm] determined to see delivered".

The chairman of the health board Prof Marcus Longley has described the findings of the review of maternity services as sending "a shock through the entire organisation" and said "apologies are empty words if they aren't faced by action".

"We have got some complex issues here that have built up over time," he said. "Clearly we have failed in our task."

Analysis by Felicity Evans, BBC Wales political editor

The problems of the UK party dominated the opening day of the Welsh Conservative conference.

But what about the Welsh party? This is Paul Davies's first conference as leader of the Tories in the Welsh Assembly.

He was elected last September by a membership frustrated that the party has not had a sniff of government in the 20 years since the assembly got going.

The conniptions over Brexit have made it tough to sell the Welsh Conservative brand, but so far establishing that brand has been slow.

The party had an encouraging increase in vote share in the Newport West by-election but polling suggests Mr Davies himself is still virtually unknown by Welsh voters.

He has also got a big challenge to diversify the party - the need to do this made up a large part of his victory speech last year. The small gathering here in Llangollen is predominantly older, white and male.

But a recent survey, by the centre right think tank Onward, warned the Tories that only 16% of under 35s would vote for the party right now.

So Paul Davies has appointed a shadow youth cabinet to help shape party policy in the run up to the 2021 assembly election.

He is also hoping that the Welsh Government's new powers over income tax will introduce more jeopardy into the next election - giving voters a choice between higher or lower tax parties.

Two likely Conservative leadership contenders addressed Tory spasms over Brexit, in the final afternoon session of the conference.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid warned party members not to "let the task of negotiating with the European Union become all consuming".

"Allowing Europe to dominate stops us addressing the issues the referendum highlighted in the first place," he said.

Matt Hancock, England's Health Secretary, said: "We can't become a single issue party. Deliver Brexit, don't be defined by Brexit."

Another contender, former foreign secretary Boris Johnson, will be a guest at a private dinner for Welsh Tory members later.