Health board to be reviewed after murderer’s case
AN INDEPENDENT assessment of a Welsh health board has been ordered to ensure lessons have been learned from the case of Kris Wade.
This follows months of pressure from healthcare and patient groups, as well as politicians for a public inquiry.
Wade, 37, is currently serving at least 21 years in prison after admitting the murder of his 65-year-old neighbour, Christine James, at her Cardiff Bay flat in March 2016.
He had previously been accused of sexually abusing patients with learning disabilities in 2012 and 2013 while he worked for Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University (ABMU).
Although the complaints were investigated by police, no criminal case was ever heard.
An internal review was launched by the health board that also looked at the relationship between him and his father, who was then the health board’s mental health and learning disabilities clinical service director. The records of 59 patients came under review.
A catalogue of issues emerged, including that Wade obtained employment with the health board “with a standard application form used at that time but only contained three lines of supporting information”.
It also said there was no evidence of a Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check.
Despite dismissing the need for a public inquiry three weeks ago, Cabinet Secretary for Health, Well Being & Sport Vaughan Gething issued a statement that said he had asked the Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW) to conduct an assessment of ABMU health board. He said: “In respect of ABMU specifically, I want to be satisfied that appropriate actions have been identified by the health board and that their response is sufficiently robust.
“I also wish to be assured there are arrangements in place to monitor the embedding of any changes.
“I have asked that Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW) undertake an independent assessment to determine:
If all appropriate learning has been identified from the findings in this review;
if the actions being taken are sufficiently wide-ranging and robust;
if there are effective arrangements in place for ongoing monitoring of the actions taken, ensuring they are embedded in practice across the organisation; and
if there is any further learning that should be shared across the NHS in Wales.”
Mr Gething also said all NHS chief executives had been asked to provide assurance that lessons have been learned from the report by September 29.
Mr Gething said: “All NHS chief executives have been asked to review the findings of this report and provide assurance that good governance is in place in relation to patient safety incident reporting, safeguarding and employment practices and that all appropriate guidance is followed to protect the safety of patients, including their sexual safety.”
A spokeswoman for ABMU said: “We welcome this review. We will be doing all we can to co-operate fully.”