Latest news with #SwanseaBayHealthBoard
BBC News
2 days ago
- Health
- BBC News
Man with cancer died after delay in treatment
A coroner has written to a health board after delays to a cancer patient's treatment breached the Suspected Cancer Pathway time limit Wynne Tatchell died on 9 April 2024 at Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend. An inquest into Mr Tatchell's death found he died from the natural cause of pneumonia having undergone treatment for squamous cell carcinoma which had returned at the time of Coroner Aled Gruffydd is calling for answers about delays to staging and the treatment phase of his care. In a Prevention of Future Death's report, Coroner Aled Gruffydd said that the "delay in providing treatment more than minimally contributed" to his death. The coroner was told Mr Tatchell was referred to Morriston Hospital on 12 April 2023 by his dentist following the discovery of an ulcer in the lower left jaw. The referral was classed as an urgent suspected cancer (USC) and he was seen at the outpatients clinic on 28 April was suspected he had a squamous cell carcinoma but it needed to be confirmed by a biopsy, which took place on 18 May 2023, with the results returning on 30 May as a moderately differentiated squamous cell Tatchell returned to hospital again on 19 and 29 June for CT and MRI scans. His care was transferred when he saw a consultant on 6 July and 27 July to discuss treatments, which would consist of surgery and due to theatre capacity he did not undergo surgery until 13 week prior to the surgery, it was discovered Mr Tatchell's cancer had spread and was area was operated on but by February 2024 and with Mr Tatchell complaining of pain in his neck, specialists found the cancer had was readmitted to hospital on 8 March and subsequently died one month later. Writing to the chief executive of Swansea Bay Health Board, Mr Gruffydd concluded that "the delay in providing treatment more than minimally contributed to the deceased's death".The Suspected Cancer Pathway, introduced in Wales in 2019, required a suspected cancer to be diagnosed and staged within 31 calendar days of the date of referral. It also states that for treatment to commence within 62 calendar days from the date of referral. "In this case the diagnostic and staging phase was completed in 97 days from the date of referral and treatment commenced within 144 days of the date of treatment." Mr Gruffydd said that since then there had been evidence of improvement in theatre capacity and the addition of a consultant maxillofacial oncological surgeon appointed. However, he added that in May 2025, two associate medical directors expressed concern to the clinical lead for radiology that delays to staging scans were causing unnecessary risk in aggressive cancers that were at risk of progression and Gruffydd said he was concerned that delays in staging scans were allowing such cancers to progress to the point that they are "unresectable, resulting in poor prognosis for patients and reducing survivability rates and life expectancy".Swansea Bay Health Board has been asked to comment.
BBC News
15-07-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Swansea Bay maternity changes demanded after critical review
Repeated failures in the quality of maternity care and governance at a health board have been highlighted in an independent review was commissioned after complaints by families, as well as concerns about the number of deaths of babies and mothers between 2018 and staffing improvements there remain "further actions to be urgently progressed," according to Dr Denise Chaffer, the chairwoman of the review into Swansea Bay health Morgan, 39, whose son suffered a brain injury during birth, said: "How many more babies and families need to suffer before even small change happens?" Swansea Bay health board previously issued an unconditional apology to the families who had been many women had a "mostly positive experience", the review said, some still have "a considerably poor or traumatic experience".It added: "Some go further and describe instances of severe birth trauma, some of which have occurred in the last year." These included a lack of compassion, feeling ignore and staff's failure to listen, while there were also "language barriers and lack of cultural awareness" for people from different authors want changes to the complaints process in Wales to make it "less rigid and more compassionate" as well as mental health support for women and said funding for rapid access psychological support for women and their birthing partners should be considered by the Welsh weaknesses at Swansea Bay were identified between 2021 and 2024, though it noted "some evidence of improvements", the report said "translating high-level changes into tangible improvements on the ground remains a challenge". Mr Morgan's wife needed an emergency caesarean when their son was born as she was being treated for was treated at Singleton Hospital's neonatal intensive care unit for a brain injury sustained during birth."It was probably one of the worst points of my life as I thought that both my son and my wife were going to die that day," Mr Morgan said.A year after his son's birth, the couple received a letter from the health board following an internal investigation into the care she received that found "several major issues that contributed to what happened to him" and suggested the family contact a solicitor."You go from thinking it was just bad luck to being angry and you want to find people accountable," Mr Morgan added."I'm riddled with trauma. Our family is riddled with the negative experience of what's happened. It's not something you just forget - you live with it."When you hear about it happening to other people it affects you all over again. But this isn't about us as a family, this is about the wider picture and there are things that can be done now that can help change future outcomes and that's on the government to do."Because ultimately if you're not changing something, if you're not instrumental in in resolving this pan-Wales, pan-UK issue, then you're complicit."You're complicit in every negative outcome, every near miss, every bereavement that every family goes through - it's on you."How many more babies and families need to suffer before even small change happens?" The report made a number of recommendations, including:A major focus on improving triage qualityImproving the quality of investigations and involve families and external inputHaving compassionate and trauma-informed careFoetal monitoring training for all maternity staffThere were also a number of recommendations to Welsh government, including the revision of the complaints guidance and mental health support for women and families. Dr Chaffer said: "There is still much to be done to improve maternity and neonatal services and this report serves as a call to action for the health board to do more to rapidly improve the experiences of those who use these services."The work of this review does not and must not stop here. The health board must ensure this conversation continues until all changes are made and sustained improvements are demonstrated for the women and families of Swansea Bay." In December 2023 Healthcare Inspectorate Wales found Singleton Hospital's maternity unit failed to meet safe staffing levels over four years and had insufficient measures to stop baby staff were recruited, but it was placed into enhanced monitoring by the Welsh government.A subsequent independent review was announced but criticism from families prompted the first chairwoman to step May, the body representing patients in Wales, Llais, published its own review after speaking with more than 500 women who had given heard about failings in safety, quality of care and respect at almost every stage of the process, with some women deciding not to have more children as a prompted an apology from health board chairwoman Jan Williams and Health Secretary Jeremy Miles, who added that an assessment of the safety and quality of all maternity units in Wales would be carried out.
BBC News
12-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Singleton Hospital maternity report reveals 'concerning' care
Parents of a boy left with lifelong disabilities due to hospital failings during his birth say no lessons have been learnt. Sian and Rob Channon's son Gethin was born at Swansea's Singleton hospital in 2019 and say his life was "destroyed before he took his own breath" after being left with a serious brain comes as a report into the hospital's maternity and neonatal services found pregnant women were left alone in labour or had to give birth outside proper areas, with some mums saying they decided not to have more children as a result of their experiences. Swansea Bay health board apologised to parents with a "poor experience" and said it was focused on strengthening its services. Llais, which represents patients in Wales, based its report on more than 500 people's experiences of maternity and neonatal services at Swansea's Singleton report, carried out over several months at the end of 2024, heard about failings in safety, quality of care and respect at almost every families felt ignored or unable to raise concerns and Llais could not find anybody who shared "an entirely positive experience of their care".The health board insisted a number of changes have been made but Llais said "cultural, clinical and leadership" improvements were most serious concerns in the report revolve around mothers who felt the safety of their babies could have been "at risk", with Llais hearing "distressing stories" of women being left alone in labour and failures to recognise and treat infections. Mr Channon said it was horrifying knowing that Gethin's situation was "avoidable". "As a result of catastrophic failings, he was left with lifelong disabilities. A serious brain injury that has shortened his life expectation and left him really struggling day to day."Gethin can't walk. Gethin can't move on his own. He's fed through a button in his stomach. He's completely reliant on other people for every aspect of his life." Mrs Channon said they found it very difficult to go out anywhere where they see other children. "You can't help but compare children of Gethin's age and wonder why your son isn't running around and splashing in the sea."The couple, who were first made aware of what went wrong during Gethin's birth in 2022, said they were furious a report in 2025 "shows no lessons have been learnt". A total of 76% of people who took part in the survey reported a negative experience or identified failures in the quality of their care, including feeling like being on "a conveyor belt", or "lost in a system".Several women said they were not fully monitored and had to push for mum was left feeling "like a slab of meat" after being left "covered in blood".She added: "I had one person taking my clothes off, another inserting a catheter. I was naked and uncovered. My catheter was left in for 26 hours. I had a horrific experience and just left."One mother said: "This experience is one of the main reasons I will not have more children. I cannot go through all that again."Another said: "At birth I wasn't checked for two hours. I went to the toilet and rang the emergency cord - I gave birth in the toilet cubicle." A separate ongoing independent review of the health board's maternity services, commissioned after serious concerns about maternity services were recorded in 2023 and 2024, is set to be published in the said it wanted to give more families an opportunity to share their experiences. Llais said it was concerning that only 48% of respondents felt involved in decisions about their care, given the importance of informed consent and shared respondents felt "pressurised" into having their babies induced without full discussion of the risks, benefits and the report heard examples of staff providing compassionate, professional and supportive care, it found these were often tied to specific described a "dismissive" culture with one woman feeling "judged" after asking for a bath, and was also told "it isn't the Hilton" for asking for a pillow. The report said "a consistent and deeply concerning theme" was people not being listened to, even when they raised serious mother said she was told to take paracetamol and "rest up" when she phoned a consultant concerned about reduced movement of her unborn child following a car accident. She said: "I later found out that an accident is one of the main causes of a placental abruption. Which is how we actually lost our son. They didn't listen at all."Inadequate or no pain relief was also a frequent complaint, with many women describing being made to feel they were overreacting or imagining included woman being told they were not in pain, being wrongly told they were not in the process of giving birth or being questioned about why they needed pain relief immediately after stitches. Just 53% of respondents reported postnatal care was "positive", while 21% identified poor care, including feeling neglected, unsupported and even unsafe."I had to walk two wards to get to my baby after surgery [then] I collapsed at the reception desk," said one women spoke of being unable to reach their newborn due to a lack of assistance after having caesareans. "I couldn't reach my baby. I was told: 'You're the mum, we don't have to do everything for you'," said one respondent. Some women with babies in the neonatal intensive care unit said they were left to manage their own recovery and were unable able to see their babies. Some women told the report stereotypes affected their care, with black women describing being perceived as "aggressive" and others feeling "invisible".Some who spoke English as a second language said they found it difficult to understand new mum, a healthcare professional, said she was warned complaining about her care could threaten her ability to practise medicine in the UK, which she felt led to severe postnatal depression and the breakdown of her marriage. Llais said it wants acknowledgement from the health board of the scale and nature of poor care and commitment to use the report and the independent review findings to learn and report regularly on performance. It has also asked the Welsh government to encourage the development of a national approach to support those harmed by poor maternity care. Medwin Hughes, chairman of Llais, said: "What's needed now is continued leadership across the system to make sure those experiences are heard and acted on."Health board chief executive Abi Harris said the organisation was "completely focused on strengthening our services and the Llais report recognises many of the improvements that have been made"."We will respond fully to all the recommendations of all these important reports together and ensure we learn and act on them," she Jan Williams apologised and said she was grateful for the report and did not "underestimate how difficult it will have been for individuals who have had a negative experience of our services to relive that while contributing". The Welsh government said its main concern was for the welfare of the mothers and babies. In a statement, it said: "Considerable work is ongoing to improve the safety and quality of maternity services in Swansea Bay, but as the Llais report indicates, there is still more to do to improve the experiences for all women."It added it had commissioned an assessment of the safety and quality of all maternity units in Wales to "measure the impact of recent interventions made".
