'Arms length' NHS board rejected

Edwina Hart wants the new health bodies in place within six months

The health minister has been accused of a "personal takeover" in her latest reform of the NHS in Wales.

Edwina Hart will chair a new NHS Wales advisory board, despite suggestions in consultation that an "arms length" body would be more appropriate.

Ms Hart said the board would meet in public and that "the buck stops" with her.

But the Conservatives accused her of politicising the health service and the Lib Dems called it a "socialist model".

Ms Hart announced more details to assembly members in plans to replace NHS trusts and local health boards with seven new bodies in a slimmed-down structure.

The new bodies would follow the existing boundaries of current NHS trusts, apart from in north Wales where one new organisation would absorb two trusts.

The Welsh Ambulance Service and Velindre NHS Trust will survive the restructuring as separate bodies.

But Ms Hart also wants to create and chair a national advisory board, despite suggestions that an arms length body would be more appropriate.

SUMMARY OF NHS PROPOSALS A national advisory board, chaired by the health minister, will be established A separate delivery board will also be created, chaired by the NHS Wales chief executive, responsible for the day-to-day operational performance of the seven new NHS local bodies Further work will be undertaken on whether the seven new bodies will be allocated some of the responsibilities of Health Commission Wales, the specialist commissioning body A unified public health organisation will be formed, with executive responsibility for public health being vested with the seven NHS local bodies and at a national level. A strengthened public health presence within local government Source: Welsh Assembly Government

Conservative health spokesman Jonathan Morgan said the advisory board would mean the "politicisation of the health service in a way that I never thought possible".

"I do not understand why a government minister needs to be so involved in the day-to-day delivery of services," he said.

Liberal Democrat health spokeswoman Jenny Randerson said she completely rejected what she branded a "socialist model of the NHS".

Ms Randerson said the minister had "undermined the whole process of consultation by ignoring the wishes of those who responded to the consultation" by calling for a body that was a step away from politicians.

She accused Ms Hart of "going through the motions" and producing "the most centralising announcement in the assembly's history".

"I have immense regard for Edwina's energy and abilities but that does not stop me worrying hugely about the scale of this personal takeover," she said.

'Accountability'

Ms Hart said: "The rationale for setting up a national advisory board is based on my belief that in a devolved Wales it is both impractical and undesirable to attempt to create an arms length relationship between political responsibility and service delivery.

"I believe that a national advisory board, which I will chair, with a small, independent membership and meeting in public, will improve the accountability and transparency of the NHS."

She said a national delivery board would also be established and that this board would be responsible for day-to-day delivery of services.

The details of how the new seven bodies will work will now go to another consultation.

Ms Hart had intended the organisations would be in place by April next year.

However, she said she would consider the tight timescale and suggestions they should be created as shadow bodies first.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said Ms Hart's announcement "sends a clear message that health services in Wales are accountable to the minister and ultimately to the people."

"It is entirely appropriate that the new national advisory body should set the agenda by ensuring that preventative primary and community health services are at the forefront of the future health provision in Wales, " said RCN Wales director Tina Donnelly.

"The appointment of individuals with national and local responsibility is a step in the right direction to mainstream these often over-looked areas of healthcare."