The Welsh Conservatives are demanding an independent inquiry on the Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board after concerns about data quality led to the suspension of waiting time data publication.

The Health Board, under Welsh Government intervention for 10 years, faces scrutiny following anomalies in reported waiting list sizes.

Cabinet Secretary Jeremy Miles has commissioned a comprehensive review of the quality and governance of Health Board’s waiting times data and has promised to update members on the outcome.

Commenting, Leader of the Welsh Conservatives and Clwyd West MS, Darren Millar, said:

“The situation in the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board is totally unacceptable. We need urgent action and an independent inquiry to restore public confidence and turn things around. 

"Just last week we learned that a 'team of experts' was being appointed because senior leaders are failing to turn things around, and today we find that there are serious questions over the quality of waiting time data.

"Special measures is supposed to improve things, yet performance is worse now than it was 10 years ago when they were first instigated.

"The people of North Wales have been let down for far too long  have a right to know how the health board compares to elsewhere in the country, and why we have to wait so much longer than elsewhere for the treatment we need.

In a statement to the Senedd, Jeremy Miles MS, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care said: "The investigation will look at the data relating to planned care only. It will not include data relating to cancer, diagnostics, therapies or urgent and emergency care as no inconsistencies have been found here to date. 

"I want to be clear this review is about the quality and management of data, not about the quality of patient care nor about how long people are waiting for care in North Wales."