Wales@Westminster weblog

It's Wales@Westminster weblog, BBC Wales' Parliamentary correspondent David Cornock's diary on political life. It's a two-way process though, so add your comments too.

Monday, 10 January

Dr Gibbons tends to post-Hutt NHS
posted by David | 1645 GMT |

There will be few tears shed by Labour MPs over the sacking of the Welsh Health Minister Jane Hutt, who has been demoted to the role of business manager in the Welsh Assembly Government.

Her stewardship of the NHS has consistently angered MPs.

Former Health Minister Jon Owen Jones once accused her of refusing to accept responsibility for some health service problems.

UK Education Minister and Pontypridd MP Kim Howells clashed memorably with Ms Hutt last year after she took two and a half months to respond to a letter he wrote on behalf of a constituent.

He told her: "Such behaviour does not smack of a professional approach by your department and offers little encouragement to those of us, inside and outside of politics, who would like to contribute to the debate about how best to deliver improved health care provision in Wales.

"It is an improvement that is badly needed and slow in coming."

The task of delivering that "badly needed and slow in coming" improvement now falls to the Aberavon AM Brian Gibbons, himself a GP.

As a family doctor he should know something about the NHS, although one Labour MP privately queried whether doctors were the best people to run the NHS.

Few MPs will comment publicly on Ms Hutt's removal from the health post. "It would look as if I was gloating", said one.