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Tawel Fan: Meeting to discuss action against health board Tawel Fan scandal: Betsi Cadwaladr health board in special measures
(about 7 hours later)
A meeting to consider possible action against a health board after a report found "institutional abuse" at a Denbighshire mental health unit will be held on Monday. The Welsh government is taking over the running of a troubled health board after a report found "institutional abuse" at a mental health unit.
Betsi Cadwaladr health board will be discussed at the meeting of the Welsh government, Health Inspectorate Wales and the auditor general for Wales. The Tawel Fan ward at Glan Clwyd Hospital, Denbighshire, closed in 2013.
Glan Clwyd Hospital's Tawel Fan ward was shut down in 2013. Health Minister Mark Drakeford said the move to special measures reflected "serious and outstanding concerns" about the leadership at Betsi Cadwaladr health board.
In the report, relatives said patients were treated like "animals" in a zoo. Its chairman said the board would co-operate fully to improve matters.
The report's author, health specialist Donna Ockenden, told BBC Radio Wales it was "a terrible scandal" and "a stain on the NHS in Wales". In the report, by health specialist Donna Ockenden, relatives said patients on the Tawel Fan ward were treated like animals in a zoo.
She said the families of the patients affected had written to the chairman of the health board stating what actions they expect to be taken. The decision to take over the board's day-to-day running of health services across north Wales followed a meeting involving the Welsh government, Healthcare Inspectorate Wales and the auditor general on Monday.
'Out of patience' 'Gravity'
Those expectations are for; the health board to accept the findings and recommendations in her report, action to be taken against the people found responsible, and a "board to ward" review to get to the bottom of how it happened. It is the first time a health board in Wales has been placed in special measures, the highest of three levels of intervention.
Ms Ockenden said: "My understanding is they've had a response saying the letter has been received and it's being considered carefully." In a statement, Mr Drakeford said: "A thorough and balanced assessment has taken place on areas of concern that will form the basis of actions to be taken as a result of special measures."
He added: "Whilst special measures will apply to the organisation, I wish to reassure both patients and communities served by the health board and staff working for it that day to day services and activities will continue as normal."
Further details of what action would be taken in practice will be given by the minister to assembly members on Tuesday.
Analysis: Nick Servini, BBC Wales political editor
So, with eleven months to go until the assembly election, the Welsh government has taken direct control of the biggest health body in Wales.
In one fell swoop, the state of the NHS just became an even bigger political issue than it was already.
Is it a huge gamble or an opportunity for ministers to try to change the narrative of problems in health services across north Wales?
Behind the scenes, it's been stressed the special measures are not a direct result of the scandal at the Tawel Fan mental health ward.
Instead, that was one of a number of problems that contributed to a loss of public confidence in the board.
Whatever the reason - this changes the nature of the debate.
Up until this point, the blame for failures could at least have been shared between ministers and local health managers.
That division no longer exists.
On the flip side, this is simply the right thing to do, regardless of political calculations, and will be portrayed as such by the Welsh government keen to show it's taking charge of matters.
In response, board chairman Dr Peter Higson replied to a letter from the minister saying: "I recognise the gravity of the situation and the need for swift remedial action.
"I will ensure that the health board and its officers will work and co-operate fully with the Welsh government in achieving the necessary improvements for the benefit of the patients and public in north Wales."
The Conservatives' Shadow Health Minister Darren Millar said: "While I welcome the decision to place this dysfunctional crisis-hit health board in special measures, the move is long overdue and something I've been calling for since governance problems were first identified back in 2013.
"Placing the health board in special measures is the first step to turning the organisation into an effective provider of first class health care, where patient safety comes first."
Mr Millar also called for an independent inquiry into the Welsh NHS, blaming budget cuts by Labour ministers for contributing to management failings.
Earlier on Monday, Ms Ockenden told BBC Radio Wales her report had uncovered "a terrible scandal" and "a stain on the NHS in Wales".
She said the families had "run out of patience" and expected "fair, honest and transparent action in a timely way".She said the families had "run out of patience" and expected "fair, honest and transparent action in a timely way".
On Sunday, the older people's commissioner renewed calls to make it easier to prosecute those those who neglect patients.
Sarah Rochira said the revelations about care at Tawel Fan had been "horrific".
Labour's Vale of Clwyd AM Ann Jones told BBC's Sunday Politics Wales programme the chief executive of the health board, Prof Trevor Purt, should be sacked.
"I think public confidence is rock bottom now and my confidence has been rocked by what has happened over the months leading up to this," she said.
Mr Purt has already apologised on behalf of the board.
Several members of staff on the ward are facing disciplinary procedures but North Wales Police decided not to pursue criminal charges after investigating allegations of mistreatment.Several members of staff on the ward are facing disciplinary procedures but North Wales Police decided not to pursue criminal charges after investigating allegations of mistreatment.
Analysis by Owain Clarke, BBC Wales health correspondent Since the report was published, opposition parties and local health watchdogs have called for ministers to take action and for senior heads to roll.
The Tawel Fan report was one of the most damning and damaging ever published about standards of care in the Welsh NHS. In June 2013, the then chairman and chief executive of the Betsi Cadwaladr board resigned after a report condemned management failings and financial problems across its operations.
It contained accounts of the most vulnerable patients being subjected to what the report's author called inexcusable levels of care, if it could be called care at all.
The report made it clear this was not just a case of a few bad apples - the system failed here. There was institutional abuse, a failure of oversight and concerns not being listened to.
Although senior bosses of Betsi Cadwaladr health board have apologised, there has been a crescendo of calls for the Welsh government to take decisive action, essentially to take over some - if not all - of the health board's work.
How that works in practice we do not know because it is uncharted territory.
If it does happen, it is a big, big step.