{"id":263976,"date":"2025-11-15T08:42:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-15T08:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/263976\/"},"modified":"2025-11-15T08:42:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-15T08:42:10","slug":"health-emergency-declared-after-row-over-watered-down-motion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/263976\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Health emergency\u2019 declared after row over ‘watered-down’ motion"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Ysbyty Glan Clwyd. Photo by Richard Hoare is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.<\/p>\n

Richard Evans, Local Democracy Reporter<\/p>\n

A \u201cwatered-down motion\u201d declaring \u201ca health emergency\u201d in a north Wales county was voted through by councillors, but only after members were told to \u201chang their heads\u201d in shame.<\/p>\n

At the council meeting at Denbighshire\u2019s Ruthin County Hall HQ, several councillors gave accounts of seriously ill patients lying on A&E department floors, without being given a pillow, with some being sent home to die.<\/p>\n

Leader of the Conservatives Cllr Brian Jones had tabled the motion at the full council meeting yesterday (Tuesday), declaring a health emergency, due to Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board\u2019s long list of failings.<\/p>\n

These included the health board, which remains in special measures, having \u201cthe highest number of preventable deaths recorded in Wales\u201d, many of which,\u00a0 were the \u201cdirect result of prolonged waits in North Wales A&E departments\u201d.<\/p>\n

The original motion called for all \u201cplanned closures of community hospitals to be halted\u201d.<\/p>\n

The motion suggested such facilities should be instead \u201crepurposed to provide cost-effective step-down \/rehabilitation care\u201d for patients medically discharged from hospital but not ready to go home.<\/p>\n

The paper also argued the case for 300 new community beds, the improvement of triage arrangements at A&E departments, and that the health board worked in a \u201ctimely fashion\u201d with the council\u2019s social services department on care assessment packages.<\/p>\n

But cabinet members, including Labour\u2019s lead member for social care, Cllr Elen Heaton, said the proposals weren\u2019t within the council\u2019s role and remit; instead, she said, these decisions lay with Welsh Government.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are not within the legal or operational powers of Denbighshire County Council,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

This led to Labour amending the Conservative\u2019s original motion, which was voted through 23-17 in favour.<\/p>\n

The amendment said Denbighshire recognises the emergency \u201cdue to the pressures facing health care and social services\u201d and that the council urges the Welsh Government \u201cto continue to work proactively and at pace\u201d in partnership with the health board.<\/p>\n

But Conservative leader Cllr Brian Jones told the chamber councillors should hang their heads in shame, calling the vote \u201ca whitewash\u201d and accused members of \u201csweeping it under the carpet\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u2018Nodding dogs\u2019<\/p>\n

Speaking after the meeting, Cllr Brian Jones called Labour councillors \u201cnodding dogs\u201d accusing them of going along with the Welsh Labour Government.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe watered-down amendment that was put forward by the Labour Group was, in my opinion, an absolute disgrace to the residents of Denbighshire to deflect away from the seriousness of the situation in the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board at the moment and what has pervaded for a number of years now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cThey should all hang their heads in shame. They are just a bunch of nodding dogs to the big brothers in south Wales.\u201d<\/p>\n

Labour leader Cllr Jason McLellan hit back at the Tory critcism: \u201cI\u2019m surprised at Cllr Jones, as we made it clear that we agreed with the sentiment of his motion and that the health board needs some emergency measures to make it fit for purpose. We are not hiding away from that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Conservative motion was poorly worded, didn\u2019t make sense, and called upon the council to take action it simply can\u2019t legally do. Our amendment recognised that the emergency measures would be needed. It was realistic. It said we would engage with the health board to assist in bringing things back and getting the health board out of special measures and also called upon the Welsh Government to take urgent action.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt the wording of the amendment addressed the issues that all the councillors agreed on in a much better way, and it had cross-party support.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cI was disappointed that the Conservatives voted against it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inhumane<\/p>\n

Conservative Rhuddlan councillor Ann Davis slammed the health board during the meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny of you who walk into A&E in an evening can witness the inhumane (conditions) that are going on,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got patients lying on the floor. We\u2019ve got people with pneumonia sitting in a chair all night, people with a recent kidney transplant sitting in a chair for hours, going home the next day because there was no bed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cllr Davis then told the chamber operations were being cancelled due to blocked beds.<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cWe need to stand up for this, and it\u2019s on anyone\u2019s conscience if you don\u2019t because people are dying unnecessarily. Now the gentleman who was sat there with pneumonia went home and died within an hour.\u201d<\/p>\n

Independent Ruthin councillor Bobby Feeley said members didn\u2019t blame staff, who were doing their best within the circumstances.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cOne thing we can agree with is that BCU is a failing health board. It\u2019s been failing, really, since it was set up in 2009.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s had, in total, eight CEOs, including interims. It has been in special measures since 2015, and in 2023, it sacked all its independent board members. It covers 700,000 people across six local authorities. It is far too big, and it is the largest one in Wales. It is at the highest level of special measures.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cWe need to tell (the) health board in no uncertain terms that they are failing and the Welsh Government. The Welsh Government need to get a grip, because this really is a failing health board, and it needs much more attention than it\u2019s getting. The special measures aren\u2019t working. They\u2019ve been there for years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Dreadful conditions\u2019<\/p>\n

Non-aligned Rhyl South councillor Jeanette Chamberlain-Jones said she had worked at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd from the 1980s until 2005.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can speak now, I think, on behalf of the staff, being a frequent visitor to (Ysbyty) Glan Clwyd,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd they are asking us, \u2018Why we are not doing anything; Why aren\u2019t you, as councillors, doing anything? Why are you letting us have to nurse in such dreadful conditions?\u2019 That is what the staff are saying, and the surgeons, and the anaesthetists.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is an emergency. People are dying. I\u2019ve seen it with my own eyes only a few weeks ago. I\u2019ve seen patients asking if they can have a pillow to lie on the floor, and they haven\u2019t got any pillows. Everybody is scratching for a pillow. In this day and age, how can that be?\u201d<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cNobody is really doing anything because the management don\u2019t want to know. They don\u2019t listen to the staff or anybody, but the staff, the nurses, everybody, are asking, \u2018Where\u2019s the council? Why aren\u2019t they helping us?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Commenting, James Evans MS, Welsh Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care said: \u201cI welcome the strong message sent by Denbighshire County Council to the Welsh Government, despite Labour\u2019s attempts to water down the Welsh Conservative motion.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must declare a Wales-wide health emergency to ensure that the resources and efforts of government are focussed on cutting excessive waits for treatment.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnlike Labour, Plaid and Reform, the Welsh Conservatives have a plan to fix our NHS, increase the number of hospital beds, support the social care sector and to recruit more NHS staff, instead of creating 36 more politicians in the Senedd.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n the people of Wales.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ysbyty Glan Clwyd. Photo by Richard Hoare is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. Richard Evans, Local Democracy Reporter…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":263977,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[102,2960,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-263976","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-healthcare","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263976"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263976\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}