In the Senedd on Tuesday the leader of the Conservatives in Wales, Darren Millar, told the First Minister Eluned Morgan: “It absolutely stinks.”
Police should be asked to investigate allegations of corruption within the Welsh NHS, the Welsh Conservatives have said. It has emerged that the chief executive of Velindre has resigned with questions about him having raised concerns about allegations of criminality.
We have reported how Velindre NHS trust David Donegan had left less than a year into his role, concerns were then raised in the Senedd about how that came about and what the Welsh Government knew and has done. In the Senedd on Tuesday the leader of the Conservatives in Wales, Darren Millar, told the First Minister Eluned Morgan: “It absolutely stinks.”
It comes after Conservative health spokesman, James Evans, had previously told the Senedd: “Recent media reports have suggested that the CEO of Velindre University NHS Trust was removed from the job after only a year in post after raising concerns about governance arrangements in the NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership and that the chair of the trust’s term was also not extended past her four-year term, which is very unusual, and she also raised similar concerns regarding the NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership.” For the biggest stories in Wales first, sign up to our daily newsletter
Today it came up again when Mr Millar told the First Minister: “This whole situation in the Welsh NHS really does stink. It seems that every time someone raises concerns about wrongdoing, they seem to end up out of a job.
“We’ve seen this at Velindre, with a chief exec forced out of his position after whistleblowing about potential criminality. The chair at the same NHS trust is no longer in her position after she wrote to the Welsh Government about governance concerns with a £14 million contract. She did not serve the full eight years that chairs usually do.
“In north Wales, and you’ll remember this because you were the cabinet secretary for health at the time, you sacked all of the non-executive board members at the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board after they uncovered evidence of false accounting, collusion with suppliers, and the falsification of purchase orders. It absolutely stinks.”
Eluned Morgan responded by saying: “In relation to any allegations of criminality, what’s important is that they follow the appropriate measures to do that, so they need to make sure that they get in touch with the appropriate mechanisms within the NHS or the police and those will be investigated.
“We’ve done our own internal investigation. If there’s any additional proof that you or anyone else can bring forward, then do it.”
She said the auditor general for Wales had acknowledged that concerns were raised by Velindre University NHS Trust’s former accounting officer and chief executive, and they’ve noted that the Welsh Government commissioned an independent review of the shared services partnership’s governance arrangements.
“He has confirmed that he’s going to await its outcome before deciding on any further action,” she said.
On Tuesday Mr Millar told her “governance arrangements aren’t working”. “This is a serious matter, and I know you want to brush it under the carpet, like you do with all issues like this in the Welsh NHS,” he said.
“But let’s consider this: the organisation, which is accused of disregarding the rules and potential criminality and improper behaviour, is the NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership.
“This is the very organisation which is supposed to prevent fraud in the Welsh NHS and provide expertise on governance to other health boards.
“It is responsible for spending hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money each and every year, and yet it appears that it cannot be trusted. Now, if we cannot trust that organisation and if your NHS chief executives cannot trust that organisation, who can they trust?”
She responded that Welsh Government had investigated concerns relating to regulatory licences. “That was done in collaboration with the relevant regulators, which confirmed that they had no concerns with the arrangements of the shared partnership services,” she said in the Senedd.
“Any issues in relation to the employment of a chief executive is the responsibility of the board and the organisations, and Welsh Government has no involvement in the termination of the former chief executive’s employment,” she said.
In a statement after First Minister’s Questions, Mr Millar said: “The police must now investigate”.
