Thank you

Dear All,

Today was the final day of the consultation phase, I would personally like to thank each and everyone of you for your support in highlighting the importance of retaining full acute services in Bridgend.

It is my firm belief that the evidence submitted by Prof Longley is both selective and flawed, the Welsh Assembly Government have a responsibility to protect their people, in removing essential services from the most populated areas of South Wales it is nothing less than a complete disregard for public health and safety.

The NHS Board have been explicit in blaming recruitment problems as one of the key drivers of this reorganisation of services, if this is truly the case they, the health boards, should be made to prove they have done everything within their power to continuously recruit looking to the European community to fulfil vacancies and shortfalls, freedom of information requests obtained during this process revealed that this is simply not the case and adequate and continuous recruitment schemes have simply not taken place.

I started off this campaign by saying it is morally irresponsible to pit community against community for essential life saving services, and whilst we have campaigned for the retention of services in Bridgend it is my firm belief that services should not be removed from the Rhondda or Merthyr either, like us, these are massive growing communities with poor transportation links and legacy of chronic respiratory disease. Removal of these services is both irresponsible and incomprehensible. 

I am utterly disgusted by comments made by Leighton

Andrews arguing for the removal of services from Bridgend and am very proud that none of our politicians have stooped so low as to argue for the removal of services from any neighbouring community - the whole process is entirely flawed and for an experience politician to take the not in my backyard approach is absolutely absurd.

We can only hope that we have done enough to prove the need for the retention of our services in Bridgend, and I hope sincerely that the process is looked at and our neighbours our spared this ridiculous fate as well.

Kindest regards

Ian Spiller

Save Our Services -

Stop The Downgrade 

www.facebook.com/Cllr.ian.spiller

Today's the day!

This afternoon at 1pm protesters will be meeting at Newbridge Fields, Bridgend petitioning for the retention of acute services under threat due to the South Wales Plan. 

Join us from 1pm marching through Bridgend town centre and along Coity road to the Princess of Wales Hospital.

Save Our Services - Stop The Downgrade!

Watchdog orders the release of NHS reform documents

The information commissioner said there was a strong public interest in releasing the material

Draft versions of a controversial report on Welsh NHS reform are to be released after an order from the information commissioner.

Case for Change by Prof Marcus Longley was billed as an independent review into hospital reform.

But emails released later showed him asking civil servants for "killer facts" to support the case for change sparking a row about its impartiality.

Report drafts and internal government correspondence must now be made public.

The Case for Change report was published in May 2012 after health economist Prof Longley was commissioned to examine the evidence and write a report to explain the case for reforming hospital services.

In it he warned that some services were in danger of "collapse".

Ministers had hailed the report, commissioned by the NHS Confederation, as evidence to support the case for potentially controversial changes to hospitals.

But a furious political row followed after a trail of emails emerged in which Prof Longley had contacted senior Welsh government officials and expressed concern the "evidence as presented does not seem to be as incisive as we might have hoped".

He had asked for "killer facts" to support the case for changes in the health service and further evidence "to sharpen up the document and its impact in supporting the case for change".

A political storm over the report culminated in the then Health Minister Lesley Griffiths narrowly surviving a vote of no confidence in the assembly.

Ms Griffiths said she did not see the report until it was in its final form and insisted her officials did not influence it.

Prof Longley later defended his independence, denying his findings were "sexed up" and rejected allegations that he "colluded or connived" with civil servants.

FOI appeal

Following the row, Plaid Cymru submitted a Freedom of Information (FOI) to the Welsh government asking for draft versions of Case for Change and any correspondence between Ms Griffiths, civil servants and special advisers.

But the request was rejected prompting the party to appeal to the information commissioner Christopher Graham in October.

During his inquiry the Welsh government had argued to him that the previous disclosure of emails had prompted much media interest and "necessitated the minister being required to provide an oral statement to the Welsh assembly and for her and other officials to be questioned by the National Assembly for Wales health and social care committee".

The government said there had been a "diversion" of resources to brief the media and for "managing the media attention".

It warned further disclosures "would be likely to renew the media interest and cause officials to be redeployed to manage effects of disclosure".

It also said releasing the documents would "have an impact on policy making" and said it was "essential for officials and ministers to have a safe space to discuss live issues without being hindered by external comment and/or media involvement".

Disclosure

But in his ruling Mr Graham said he considered there to be a "strong public interest in revealing draft positions so that the public is given a fully informed picture of the decision or policy-making process promoting transparency and accountability in relation to the activities of public authorities".

"Disclosure would be likely to increase public confidence in the process and would show the range of options considered during the process."

He ruled that report drafts and internal government correspondence must now be made public saying there was a "particularly strong public interest" in releasing the information.

It is expected to be released within 35 days.

Plaid Cymru health spokeswoman Elin Jones said the decision was a "victory for openness and transparency" and called on Welsh ministers to release the information immediately.

'Kicking and screaming'

"The health service in Wales is undergoing enormous change and the public has a right to see the trail of evidence which led to the final report by Professor Longley."

Shadow Health Minister Darren Millar said the ruling "drags the Welsh government kicking and screaming towards greater transparency".

"Welsh Conservatives have long called for the draft versions of this report to be published to provide clarity over concerns that the Welsh government tried to sex up the case for controversial reconfiguration of health services," he said.

In a statement the Welsh government said: "Our reasons for withholding the information were clearly set out in our response to the FOI request and set out in Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) determination.

"The ICO has ruled in favour of the release of the information but has stated in his judgement that the arguments for and against release were finely balanced in this case."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-23168439