Latest news with #BetsiCadwaladr
BBC News
31-07-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Betsi Cadwaladr health board 'learns' from £9.4m error
Wales' biggest health board says it has "learned" from a £9.4m clerical blunder.A damning report by Audit Wales and subsequent investigation found Betsi Cadwaladr health board deliberately made incorrect entries into its own accounts for by NHS Counter Fraud and North Wales Police found no evidence of board CEO Carol Shillabeer said she hoped the final report into the matter, discussed at a board meeting on Thursday, would allow the health board to "start to move forward" with learning from the mistakes. The Welsh government put the health board back into special measures in February 2023 after Audit Wales found a "deeply worrying degree of dysfunctionality" within the then board and senior leadership. Finance department staff confidentially raised concerns about the recording of transactions through whistle blowing health board was also made aware of an unauthorised disclosure of an accounting report by accountancy firm EY in May 2023. The final report says: "This is to provide transparency and accountability and to ensure learning, with measures in place to safeguard that such matters do not happen in future."This was clearly a serious and complex matter and a wide range of reviews, investigations and other processes have been undertaken as a result."The report demonstrates the learning and actions implemented and there are now strengthened systems, culture, and leadership in place."Audit Wales found no concerns in its review of the last two financial years, the report also said. "External bodies, through various reports and assurances, have recognised the progress made by the health board. "We have and will continue to learn from this experience as we build a culture of integrity, respect, and transparency across all areas of our organisation."Speaking at the meeting, Ms Shillabeer said the "core issues" related to accounting practice were in turn related to wider issues including contract procurement and management, HR management, information governance, culture and behaviours."This matter has been very difficult for the people involved and for wider departments in the organisation and the health board in general," she said."I hope that bringing this final report means that having brought out the issues, the learning and action we can now start to move forward."
BBC News
17-06-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Wrexham dementia patient taken to hospital 140 miles away
A son has said he is being robbed of precious time with his father after he was placed in a mental health hospital nearly 140 miles from Mendoza, 83, who has dementia, had to be moved from his Wrexham care home after he became aggressive towards staff and other residents, but the nearest suitable bed was in son Danny Mendoza has called the system "broken", and is worried about his father "passing away in there, and being so far from home".Betsi Cadwaladr health board said it was "extremely sorry," and wanted to bring him home as soon as possible. Earlier this year, Danny, 54, from Gresford in Wrexham, told BBC Wales how he had been the sole unpaid carer for his father after he developed dementia three years the isolation of "living like a hermit" pushed Danny to "breaking point", and his father was eventually offered a place in a Wrexham care settled in well and Danny was able to visit in recent weeks his father's condition has worsened, and after several incidents of aggression towards staff and residents, Danny agreed he needed to go into a mental health hospital. Danny said his father had become so aggressive he was sectioned under the Mental Health Act, but was told the only suitable place available to care for him was a two hour and 40 minute drive away at St Andrew's Hospital in Northampton – a £40 trip Danny can only afford to make once or twice a said: "It's appalling – not a single bed in north Wales, or the whole of Wales?"It's not going to help me, it's not helping dad, it's not going to help the staff who look after him to settle him. It's not right."The time I've got left with my dad is precious. I don't know how long we've got left, and that's why I need him somewhere close to home, so I can spend time with him – what time he's got left."It's just the fear of him passing away in there and being so far from home."Danny said it was upsetting seeing his dad so "badly confused" as he does not know where he is, staying in a "strange hospital". Danny said he felt "powerless" and racked with "guilt"."I just want to be there for dad," he said."He needs love, he needs support. And having my dad placed in Northampton, it's just having a huge impact on me. It's just so upsetting that we can't do better in this day and age."Danny said he completely understood his father had become a risk to himself and others, and needed to be moved to a more specialised he fears other families could have loved ones being cared for hours away, and said funding for more suitable beds and treatment closer to home was urgently needed."We've got an ageing population. Unless the funding keeps pace with demand, then the system is going to collapse."He said people deserved "more respect than that" when they age and become ill with dementia. Charity Carers Wales said Danny's situation was "quite a common occurrence".Rob Simkins, head of policy and public affairs, added: "I just think it's a really sorry state of affairs that in 2025, in one of the richest countries in the world, people are having to travel two-and-a-half hours to go and look after the people they provide care for, or go and visit them."I think we can do better than that in Wales."Mr Simkins said it painted a picture where there was not enough infrastructure close to people and their families, putting "additional stresses and strains on carers trying to help and support the people they provide care for"."We need to get it sorted, and quickly," he added. Teresa Owen, an executive director at Betsi Cadwaldr health board, said: "I am extremely sorry for the situation Mr Mendoza and his son find themselves in."Unfortunately, we work in an extremely pressured system and sometimes we do not have the capacity to admit to our own facilities in complex cases like these."Sadly, there was no-one available to us to provide the type of care Mr Mendoza needed closer to his home, at the time he needed help."We are focused on him receiving the best care and bringing him back home as quickly as possible."The health board's mental health and learning disability team's east division has four patients at St Andrew' number of patients has decreased in the past year, but there is "still more work to do," she added."You can be assured this is a priority for us, as we want people to be closer to their homes and their families."The Welsh government said it provided £12.7m a year to support implementing its dementia action added: "Our mental health and wellbeing strategy aims to ensure when people need support, care or treatment, they will be able to access a range of services seamlessly and delivered as close to home as possible."
BBC News
05-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Betsi Cadwaladr chair says longest NHS waits to end by 2026
Wales' largest and most troubled health board has said no patients will be waiting for more than two years for NHS treatment by the end of this Edwards, chairman of Betsi Cadwaladr health board, said he was "fairly confident" there will be no one on the long-term waiting list by next north Wales health board has been under the highest level of Welsh government scrutiny for the best part of a decade with the situation there being described as "acute".Figures for March, released two weeks ago, showed long-term waits across Wales falling to 8,389, the lowest since April 2021, but the majority - 5,747 - were in Betsi Cadwaladr. In December, First Minister Eluned Morgan pledged to cut the number of patients in Wales waiting two years or more for planned treatments, from 24,000 to "about 8,000" by this spring. Opposition parties said the March figures showed that target had been missed. On Wednesday, Mr Edwards told Newyddion S4C: "We're facing a capacity situation - that's the central question. "By the end of the end of this calendar year I'm fairly confident that no one will be waiting more than two years for treatment within this health board."Speaking in the Senedd earlier this week, Health Secretary Jeremy Miles confirmed that Swansea Bay, Hywel Dda, and Powys health boards had no patients waiting more than two he said Cardiff and the Vale and Betsi Cadwaladr had missed their told MSs: "The problem is most acute in north Wales, where from this week, Welsh government officials will work alongside health board staff themselves to focus on turning around its planned care position."I expect the health board to meet its plans to significantly reduce long waits by the end of the first quarter of this year."The Welsh Conservatives have been calling for a public inquiry into the health board which was first placed in special measures in June 2015 and is still under Welsh the highest level of Welsh government scrutiny. 'Hold our hand' Newyddion S4C asked Mr Edwards when he expected that to be lowered."Our focus is on improving the health board itself, and the health and wellbeing provision for north Wales," he said."I think that coming out of special measures will be a by-product of the success of the health board."When asked about the target of cutting the two-year waiting list for treatment, he added: "We're facing a capacity situation - that's the central question. "By the end of this calendar year I'm fairly confident that no-one will be waiting more than two years for treatment within this health board."On the health secretary's announcement that government officials were working alongside health board staff to focus on turning around its planned care position, he explained that the officials are there "to look at what steps we're taking, to understand some of the challenges that we're facing, and sometimes to hold our hand while we're doing the work"."I think we've shown government officials that we're on the right track. "Sometimes the government need that reassurance and there's nothing better than coming in to see for yourself, to get that evidence, and I think that's what they've done this past week."
BBC News
30-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Former nurse, 84, removed her own eye cyst after years of waiting
An 84-year-old retired nurse removed a cyst from her own eye after waiting years for treatment, a report has account was revealed in a citizen experiences report presented during a meeting of the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board on Thursday, which looked at the long delays facing people awaiting treatment for conditions in north found some frustrated NHS patients were taking matters into their own hands, with another patient carrying out their own tooth filling with a kit from the health board said it acknowledged that "significant work" remained to address challenges in a "sustainable, long-term way". The woman, who is still waiting for an eye operation, initially waited three years to be seen after being placed on the ophthalmology waiting list in had some procedures but said they "did not help", so was eventually driven to carry out the dangerous procedure herself, according to the report."She is waiting for an eye operation, which was requested in October 2023, and her eyesight is deteriorating rapidly," it said."As a former nurse and nurse manager, she has given her working life to care for other people. Now she needs some care of her own."The report described long waits experienced by patients in the emergency departments at Ysbyty Gwynedd, Ysbyty Wrexham Maelor, and Ysbyty Glan Clwyd were found to be waiting up to 36 hours and "overcrowding, uncertainty, and discomfort" were also common public consultation had been part of a "listening and understanding" initiative aimed at improving the design and delivery of care and had been 300 enquiries from MPs and MSs over their constituents' experiences, with waiting times the main focus. Another case was a man who wanted to join the Army, but was unable to because of the health of his report said the man had not been able to find an NHS dentist nearby due to a "chronic shortage" of dentists in north Wales, and private dentists quoted a minimum of £3,000 for conversations highlighted issues over outpatient waiting times, access to services, ambulance and emergency department delays, and was found to have had a "catastrophic impact" on one patient's life who suffered daily pain, and another, awaiting an operation for bladder stones, endured "continual bleeding". Llais, the body which gives people a "voice" when accessing health services, also gathered data which found people had "significant challenges" accessing timely and affordable primary care, difficulty accessing GP appointments and the absence or loss of NHS dental treatment or self-management of dental problems had manifested sometimes in "unsafe or distressing" ways, including one patient "filling their own tooth with a kit from the dentist". Another patient reported waiting "12 hours in a corridor on a trolley".Long delays for specialist services, including audiology, cataract surgery, neuro-developmental assessment, and respiratory care were also "a major concern".A meeting to discuss the report heard that despite many people highlighting "dissatisfaction or frustration", many other participants had also expressed "gratitude" and praise for the "professionalism and compassion" by hospital staff, members and report said measures had been taken by the board to address calls for dental care, this included creating contracts worth more than £1.5m to expand NHS dental provision and a new dental access portal, launched in February, was also helping "simplify and centralise" access to procurement exercises, covering general dental services, orthodontics, oral surgery, and non-urgent access, also totalled more than £ to areas such as emergency departments, dermatology, gynaecology, physiotherapy musculoskeletal, cancer services, and a midwifery ward bereavement suite had also been neuro-developmental services, it said a child and adolescent mental health improvement programme was in place to provide mental health support for children and young people.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
'Gross failures' and 'neglect' played part in death of newborn baby
The death of a newborn baby girl was in part caused by "gross failures" in medical care and "neglect". A coroner said she was so concerned about the circumstances surrounding the death of Etta-Lili Stockwell-Parry in 2023 that she issued a Prevention of Future Deaths (PFD) report to the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB). Her mother Laura Stockwell-Parry was induced and Etta-Lili was born "in poor condition" on July 3, 2023,at Ysbyty Gwynedd, Bangor having suffered oxygen starvation, according to a pathologist. She was taken to Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral but died there four days later on July 7. At a two day inquest in Cernarfon Kate Robertson, senior coroner for north west Wales, found that neglect was a contributory factor in the little baby's death. READ MORE: Council crews to search bins and hand £70 fines to rule-breakers READ MORE: Venomous snake bolts into sea from beneath paddleboard at popular Welsh beach Staff had failed to notice problems early enough and a subsequent investigation wasn't thorough enough, the coroner said. Neither a community midwife before the birth, nor maternity unit staff at Ysbyty Gwynedd noticed the baby had stopped growing at about 40 weeks, the hearing was told. Sign up for our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here. North Wales Live reported that the health board said said "significant steps" had been taken to address the failures in this case, which it said was an "isolated incident". Mrs Robertson found cause of death was hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy. She recorded a narrative conclusion at this week's inquest. In a Prevention of Futue Deaths report statement, issued after the inquest the coroner said there were "several gross failures" identified in Etta's mother's care. These failures resulted in opportunities not taken to deliver Etta before she became distressed. There were "many incidences of learning" relating to Etta's resuscitation at Ysbyty Gwynedd, she added. Mrs Robertson found: "There were several opportunities not taken by those caring for Etta's mother. "There were opportunities to identify concerns with Etta through her mother on the midwifery led unit on 2 July 2023 including properly conducting holistic assessments, properly completing partogram and manual palpation of maternal pulse which would also likely have resulted in earlier detection of distress and successful delivery. Etta's death was contributed to by neglect." The coroner also found that Mrs Stockwell-Parry ought to have been referred to the labour ward for close monitoring, but instead, she was induced and received only intermittent monitoring. Her pulse was not always taken and recorded and there was no recognition that Etta Lili's mother's pulse was being recorded as opposed to the fetal heart rate. Mrs Robertson also found the neonatal investigation was not thorough. The investigator neither obtained nor requested statements from the doctors directly involved in Etta's resuscitation, nor did they meet them to understand what had occurred. Mrs Robertson said she is concerned that staff not involved in the incident will not learn enough from events where there is inadequate sharing of learning from an incident. She issued the Prevention of Future Deaths report about her concerns. BCUHB has 56 days to respond with a timetable of how it will act on points raised. Angela Wood, Executive Director of Nursing and Midwifery Services at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, said "significant steps" have been taken to address the issues in this "isolated incident". She said: "We would like to extend our deepest sympathies and heartfelt condolences to Mr and Mrs Stockwell-Parry following the tragic death of baby Etta. We recognise the profound impact this has had on the family, and we are truly sorry for the pain and loss they have endured. "Since this tragic event in July 2023, we have carried out a thorough review of the care provided and taken significant steps to ensure that the issues identified have been addressed. We are committed to learning from this and have implemented a range of measures to strengthen our training and clinical oversight to ensure the safest possible care for mothers and babies." She added: "We want to reassure expectant mothers and families in our care that this was an isolated incident. Providing safe, compassionate care is our highest priority, and we remain committed to upholding the highest standards of care across our maternity services." Get daily breaking news updates on your phone by joining our WhatsApp community here. We occasionally treat members to special offers, promotions and ads from us and our partners. See our Privacy Notice
