Following the release of a damning report into failings at a mental health unit run by the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, eight years after it was completed and following interventions by the Information Commissioner and the General Regulatory Chamber, the Member of the Welsh Parliament for Aberconwy – Janet Finch-Saunders MS – has reiterated the need for an inquiry into the management of the Board.
The report, authored by Robin Holden, is based on the evidence provided by interviewees during the course of the investigation which took place in 2013. It finds that a breakdown in staff and manager relations at Hergest Unit, Ysbyty Gwynedd, put patients at risk. Amid a culture of bullying and low morale, it also concludes that patient safety concerns were not addressed.
The 14 page report made 19 recommendations to the Health Board, who released a redacted copy in 2015. The Holden Report was written just a few weeks before the closure of the 17-bed Tawel Fan dementia unit at the Ablett Unit in Glan Clwyd hospital in Bodelwyddan, citing "deeply distressing" allegations about patient care.
Commenting on the publication of the report, Janet said:
“The harrowing testimony of overworked frontline staff in this report should give all public officials severe pause for thought.
“It is plainly unacceptable that a report of this importance, formed from 700 pages of testimony provided by 45 members of staff, was kept out of the public domain for so long. I only hope that its publication will now give those affected and their families the peace of mind that is so sorely overdue.
“It is clear that the direct intervention of the Welsh Government during the period of special measures, when this report remained hidden away from view, has done little to address the lack of transparency and a culture that refrains from being held to account.
“With expansive notes on the understaffing of wards to the point that basic physical care and attention to personal hygiene was, at times, neglected, as well as concerns over bullying and fractured management structures; the handling of this report only further supports the justification for an inquiry into the management of the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
- Please find a statement from the Health Board and a copy of the Holden Report by clicking here.
Photo: by Hush Naidoo Jade Photography on Unsplash
