English: I would like to begin my contribution this afternoon by joining with my colleague Dawn Bowden in thanking the Minister very sincerely for taking such decisive action as soon as the issues in Cwm Taf maternity services came to light, commissioning this independent review that has allowed us to shine a spotlight on the failings in the service and begin to put things right. So, for my contribution today, I'd like to pick up on two important themes that I mentioned in the Chamber last week, and I will focus my remarks on the Cwm Taf report, as that's the one that directly affects my constituents in the Cynon Valley. As I stated here last week, there's no doubt that, since I was elected to this place three years ago, that report is the most distressing thing that I have had to read, and my thoughts remain very firmly with all of the families affected. Firstly, for all the women that I have spoken to from my constituency and also the women from Cynon Valley whose views are expressed in that report, there is one theme that stands out very clearly, and that relates to the issue of notes disappearing or not being taken, of record keeping not being accurate, of women going through a very difficult time in labour and repeatedly being asked by different members of staff to verbally pass on information, rather than that information being there at hand. Take the example of Mountain Ash resident Joann Edwards. Joann has spoken of being constantly asked to repeat reasons for induction and type of delivery, and noted poor communication between staff and shifts. As she said, 'Not one person seemed to refer to my notes which even included scan pictures from the consultant with details of fluid measurements.' Or Chloe Williams from Ynysybwl - now, Chloe had contracted E. coli during her pregnancy, which wasn't captured in her notes. She suffered tremendous pain and, tragically, her son was stillborn. Now, the reason that I give these examples in such detail - as Members will be aware, the Public Accounts Committee recently considered NHS informatics and had some pretty clear findings on that, and, similarly, I've had useful discussions in the last week with organisations like the Royal College of Nursing to discuss this, and it's clear to me that informatics must be used more effectively to ensure that all the information that midwives and doctors need is at hand in order to make the right decisions at the right time for mothers and for babies. Secondly, a point I made was that Cwm Taf has particular issues around its socioeconomic make-up. There are resultant health issues that arise from this, and, whilst this is no excuse, they clearly have an impact on outcomes. But other areas in Wales have the same challenges, and those other areas also have fewer interventions and safer outcomes for mothers and babies. So, it's really important that the Cwm Taf health board draws on these experiences of similar health boards and learns from them so that things can be different moving forward. I very much welcome the assurances that the Minister gave me personally in the Chamber last week around this co-working. I also want to spend just a little time addressing the report's findings around governance. The report talks about inadequacies in clinical leadership, no training and no evidence of board-level plans to develop skills or support leaders, a lack of visible accountability, and, what is worse, the provision of false assurances to the board. And, even when unannounced visits to the board raised concerns to which there should have been a response, the characterisation is of lack of action. Moving to the fourth term of reference, it strikes me as incomprehensible that reviews of governance arrangements should be commissioned and then just left on the shelf. Moreover, there was a lack of clinical involvement. Standard systems of data collection, validation and audit were just not in place. There were no leadership expectations for these functions, so they became nobody's business. I want to briefly touch on the last point of the Plaid motion, and explain why I believe that it is the wrong approach. When the Minister gave his statement last week, he outlined a range of interventions to make things right. His focus on establishing an independent maternity oversight panel, strengthening board leadership and providing external scrutiny and support is, to my mind, the correct approach, and I expect that this should lead to a resolution of the challenges in governance systems that I've just described - governance systems that can have such a devastating effect on the lives of people accessing the services. Similarly, in response to the concerns I raised after his statement, I welcome the Minister's comments around better use of technology to provide greater robustness and certainty about record transfer. Let us not forget, it is only thanks to the Minister's intervention that a light has been shone on these issues. So, instead of scapegoating or looking for an easy headline, let's focus on making things right for the people who rely on these services, and that includes the staff themselves.
Welsh: Hoffwn ddechrau fy nghyfraniad y prynhawn yma drwy ymuno â fy nghyd-Aelod, Dawn Bowden, i ddiolch yn ddiffuant iawn i'r Gweinidog am roi camau mor bendant ar waith cyn gynted ag y daeth y problemau yng ngwasanaethau mamolaeth Cwm Taf i'r amlwg, gan gomisiynu'r adolygiad annibynnol hwn sydd wedi ein galluogi i dynnu sylw at fethiannau yn y gwasanaeth ac i ddechrau unioni pethau. Felly, ar gyfer fy nghyfraniad heddiw, hoffwn grybwyll dwy thema bwysig y soniais amdanynt yn y Siambr yr wythnos diwethaf, a chanolbwyntiaf fy sylwadau ar adroddiad Cwm Taf, gan mai dyna'r un sy'n effeithio'n uniongyrchol ar fy etholwyr yng Nghwm Cynon. Fel y dywedais yn y fan hon yr wythnos diwethaf, ers imi gael fy ethol i'r lle hwn dair blynedd yn ôl, nid oes amheuaeth mai'r adroddiad hwnnw yw'r peth mwyaf gofidus y bu'n rhaid imi ei ddarllen, ac mae fy meddyliau'n dal yn gadarn iawn gyda'r holl deuluoedd yr effeithiwyd arnynt. Yn gyntaf, i'r holl fenywod y siaradais â hwy o fy etholaeth a hefyd y menywod o Gwm Cynon y mynegir eu barn yn yr adroddiad hwnnw, mae un thema'n amlwg iawn, ac mae'n ymwneud â nodiadau'n diflannu neu ddim yn cael eu gwneud, o gofnodion nad oedd yn fanwl gywir, o fenywod yn mynd drwy gyfnod anodd iawn wrth esgor a'r honiad yw bod aelodau gwahanol o staff yn gofyn iddynt dro ar ôl tro i drosglwyddo gwybodaeth ar lafar, yn hytrach na bod y wybodaeth yno wrth law. Un enghraifft yw Joann Edwards sy'n byw yn Aberpennar. Mae Joann wedi sôn sut y gofynnwyd iddi'n gyson i ailadrodd rhesymau dros gymell geni a'r math o enedigaeth, a nododd y cyfathrebu gwael rhwng staff a sifftiau. Fel y dywedodd, Nid oedd un person i'w weld fel pe bai'n cyfeirio at fy nodiadau a oedd hyd yn oed yn cynnwys lluniau sgan gan y meddyg ymgynghorol gyda manylion mesuriadau hylif. Neu Chloe Williams o Ynysybwl - nawr, roedd Chloe wedi dal E. coli yn ystod ei beichiogrwydd, ond ni chafodd hynny ei gofnodi yn ei nodiadau. Dioddefodd boen aruthrol ac yn drasig, roedd ei mab yn farw-anedig. Nawr, y rheswm pam rwy'n rhoi'r enghreifftiau hyn mor fanwl - fel y bydd yr Aelodau'n gwybod, bu'r Pwyllgor Cyfrifon Cyhoeddus yn ystyried gwybodeg y GIG yn ddiweddar ac roedd ganddo ganfyddiadau go glir ar hynny, ac yn yr un modd, rwyf wedi cael trafodaethau defnyddiol yn ystod yr wythnos ddiwethaf gyda sefydliadau fel y Coleg Nyrsio Brenhinol i drafod hyn, ac mae'n amlwg i mi fod yn rhaid defnyddio gwybodeg yn fwy effeithiol i sicrhau bod yr holl wybodaeth sydd ei hangen ar fydwragedd a meddygon wrth law er mwyn gwneud y penderfyniadau cywir ar yr adeg gywir i famau a babanod. Yn ail, pwynt a wneuthum oedd bod gan Gwm Taf broblemau penodol o ran ei gyfansoddiad economaidd-gymdeithasol. Ceir problemau iechyd sy'n deillio o hyn, ac er nad yw'n esgus, maent yn amlwg yn effeithio ar ganlyniadau. Ond mae gan ardaloedd eraill yng Nghymru yr un heriau, ac mae'r ardaloedd eraill hynny hefyd yn gweld llai o ymyriadau a chanlyniadau diogelach i famau a babanod. Felly, mae'n bwysig iawn fod bwrdd iechyd Cwm Taf yn defnyddio'r profiadau hyn gan fyrddau iechyd tebyg ac yn dysgu oddi wrthynt er mwyn i bethau fod yn wahanol wrth symud ymlaen. Rwy'n croesawu'n fawr y sicrwydd a roddodd y Gweinidog i mi'n bersonol yn y Siambr yr wythnos diwethaf ynghylch y cydweithio hwn. Rwyf hefyd am dreulio ychydig o amser yn mynd i'r afael â chanfyddiadau'r adroddiad ynghylch llywodraethu. Mae'r adroddiad yn sôn am ddiffygion mewn arweinyddiaeth glinigol, dim hyfforddiant a dim tystiolaeth o gynlluniau ar lefel y bwrdd i ddatblygu sgiliau neu gefnogi arweinwyr, diffyg atebolrwydd gweladwy, a'r hyn sy'n waeth, darparu sicrwydd ffug i'r bwrdd. A hyd yn oed pan fynegwyd pryderon yn sgil ymweliadau dirybudd â'r bwrdd y dylid bod wedi cael ymateb iddynt, sonnir am ddiffyg gweithredu. Gan symud i'r pedwerydd cylch gorchwyl, mae'n ymddangos i mi'n anhygoel fod adolygiadau o drefniadau llywodraethu wedi'u comisiynu ac yna wedi'u gadael ar y silff. At hynny, roedd yna ddiffyg cyfranogiad clinigol. Nid oedd systemau safonol ar waith ar gyfer casglu, dilysu ac archwilio data. Nid oedd unrhyw ddisgwyliadau o ran arweinyddiaeth ar gyfer y swyddogaethau hyn, felly daethant i fod yn fusnes i neb. Hoffwn gyfeirio'n fyr at bwynt olaf cynnig Plaid Cymru, ac egluro pam y credaf nad dyma'r dull cywir o weithredu. Pan roddodd y Gweinidog ei ddatganiad yr wythnos diwethaf, amlinellodd ystod o ymyriadau i wneud pethau'n iawn. Mae ei ffocws ar sefydlu panel goruchwylio mamolaeth annibynnol, cryfhau arweinyddiaeth y bwrdd a darparu craffu a chymorth allanol yn ddull gweithredu cywir, yn fy marn i, a disgwyliaf i hyn arwain at ddatrys yr heriau yn y systemau llywodraethu a ddisgrifiais yn awr - systemau llywodraethu a all gael effaith mor ddinistriol ar fywydau pobl sy'n defnyddio'r gwasanaethau. Yn yr un modd, mewn ymateb i'r pryderon a nodais ar ôl ei ddatganiad, rwy'n croesawu sylwadau'r Gweinidog ynglŷn â gwell defnydd o dechnoleg i ddarparu gwell cadernid a sicrwydd ynghylch trosglwyddo cofnodion. Gadewch inni beidio ag anghofio na fyddai'r problemau hyn wedi'u hamlygu heb ymyrraeth y Gweinidog. Felly, yn hytrach na chreu bwch dihangol ac edrych am benawdau hawdd, gadewch inni ganolbwyntio ar wneud pethau'n iawn i'r bobl sy'n dibynnu ar y gwasanaethau hyn, ac mae hynny'n cynnwys y staff eu hunain.