The Shadow Minister for Health has raised concerns after Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board admitted ‘some responses’ to its maternity services consultation ‘may not have been delivered by the Royal Mail’.
In a statement issued this afternoon, health bosses admitted responses sent to the local BCUHB Freepost address ‘during the early weeks of the consultation’ are affected.
The Women’s and Maternity Services Consultation 2015 – which could see services downgraded – ran from August 24th to October 5th.
Welsh Conservative Shadow Minister for Health, Darren Millar AM, said:
“This blunder has to be seen to be believed.
“One of the most important consultations for the future of health services in north Wales in recent times – and someone’s lost weeks’ worth of responses.
“It’s not acceptable and those who’ve taken the time to make their feelings known will rightly despair.
“NHS bosses need to work with the Royal Mail to find out how this happened, get a better idea of how many responses have gone missing, and put it right.
“Every effort should be made to inform communities of this mistake and ensure those who responded quickly are given the opportunity do so again.”
Mr Millar added:
“For Welsh Conservatives, hospital downgrading is not an option – anywhere.
“We firmly believe that full services can be maintained at all three sites in north Wales and I very much hope that’s the result of this process.