Written question WQ85178

We will not publish all the correspondence between Healthcare Inspectorate Wales and the Welsh Government in relation to Glan Clwyd Hospital emergency department since January 2022. Much of the correspondence relates to ongoing inspections and therefore subject to factual accuracy and response from the health board and cannot be made public.

In line with operating procedures HIW have had communication with my officials, which I am not routinely party to. This information cannot be shared as it contains sensitive and identifiable information and may be subject to ongoing coronial and other official processes.

HIW, in line with operating procedures, shares immediate assurance letters and issues of concerns with Welsh Government at the point they are shared with the health board.

With regard to ministerial briefs from HIW:

• I have received one briefing that referenced Glan Clwyd Hospital in April 2022. This did not provide detailed information and was a reference to activity taking place in the hospital by HIW.

• I received a brief on 11 May 2022 containing the recently published quality check on the emergency department in Glan Clwyd ahead of publication and in line with agreed arrangements with HIW. This brief also contained the notification of HIW’s intention to escalate the service to a Service Requiring Significant Intervention one week prior to publication.

• I then received one follow up e-mail on 18 May 2022 to clarify the content of one comment made during plenary, where a statement was incorrectly attributed to HIW. At no time has HIW described the Emergency Department at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd as the ‘worst it has ever seen

• The Welsh Government does not routinely publish briefings of this nature.

The report of the quality check I received on the 11 May is available on the HIW website. I can confirm that I have not been provided with or seen any reports that have not yet been published. This is in line with HIW’s arrangements to ensure their independence. I expect to receive the report for the latest inspection in August one week ahead of publication, in line with our usual information sharing processes.