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Glan Clwyd Hospital: Healthcare Inspectorate Wales 'needs reform' Glan Clwyd Hospital: Healthcare Inspectorate Wales 'needs reform'
(35 minutes later)
The leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats has said scrapping Wales' health watchdog should be considered.The leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats has said scrapping Wales' health watchdog should be considered.
Kirsty Williams said a damning report into the Tawel Fan mental health unit at Glan Clwyd Hospital in Denbighshire was a "scandal". Kirsty Williams said a damning report into Glan Clwyd Hospital's Tawel Fan unit in Denbighshire was a "scandal".
She said Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW) had failed as the "final backstop and assurance mechanism" to ensure care was "first class".She said Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW) had failed as the "final backstop and assurance mechanism" to ensure care was "first class".
HIW and the Welsh government have been contacted for comment. HIW said it provided a "robust" service, and the Welsh government said it was "largely fit for purpose".
Families described patients being treated like animals in a zoo. But families who took part in a review of care at the unit in Bodelwyddan described patients being treated like animals in a zoo.
'Warning signs''Warning signs'
Ms Williams, a member of the assembly's Health and Social Care Committee, told BBC's Good Morning Wales: "All the mechanisms internally within the trust, and then externally, failed to provide the warning signs and the action that the patients, and the families of those patients, needed in this particular case.Ms Williams, a member of the assembly's Health and Social Care Committee, told BBC's Good Morning Wales: "All the mechanisms internally within the trust, and then externally, failed to provide the warning signs and the action that the patients, and the families of those patients, needed in this particular case.
"And we really now have to consider whether Healthcare Inspectorate Wales, in its current form, is fit for purpose and can provide that reassurance that we need.""And we really now have to consider whether Healthcare Inspectorate Wales, in its current form, is fit for purpose and can provide that reassurance that we need."
Ms Williams said a new regulatory inspection regime should be looked at, it should also be independent of the Welsh government. Ms Williams said options for a new regulatory inspection regime should be looked at and should be independent of the Welsh government.
Reform of the whistle-blowing mechanisms in the NHS was also needed, she said.Reform of the whistle-blowing mechanisms in the NHS was also needed, she said.
Prof Marcus Longley, director of the Welsh Health and Social Care Institute, told BBC Radio Wales scrapping HIW was "something that needs to be looked at."Prof Marcus Longley, director of the Welsh Health and Social Care Institute, told BBC Radio Wales scrapping HIW was "something that needs to be looked at."
He said the situation in England was "very different" where a regulator has a much higher profile compared with HIW. He said the situation in England was "very different" where its regulator has a much higher profile compared with HIW.
"People know about the chief inspector of Hospitals in England - a very senior and respected person. So that profile can be an advantage," he said."People know about the chief inspector of Hospitals in England - a very senior and respected person. So that profile can be an advantage," he said.
Dr Kate Chamberlain, chief executive of HIW said the body "is committed to providing a robust and effective system".
She said the review "confirmed that significant improvements had been made".
"Her report also posed important questions about whether there was a need to strengthen our independence," Ms Chamberlain said.
A Welsh government spokesman added an independent review of HIW by Wales' former older people's commissioner, Ruth Marks, found "its role and function is largely fit for purpose".
"She made a series of recommendations to make HIW a stronger, more independent inspectorate, including the possibility of having one single regulator for health and social care," a spokesman said.
"The Welsh Government is committed to bringing forward a Green Paper this year to consider these options."