Coroner to review patient deaths

ACORONER has asked to view files into the deaths of dementia patients who stayed on a controversial hospital ward.

John Gittins, coroner for North East Wales and Central, has requested to see individual patient reports for those who died on or after staying on Tawel Fan ward at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd, Bodelwyddan, to determine whether any full inquests need to be held.

However, some relatives of patients are angry they only found out about this by chance. Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board chief executive Gary Doherty has since apologised for any distress caused.

Family members claim it was a deliberate attempt by Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board to leave them out of the process.

Tawel Fan mental health ward was closed in December 2013 amid allegations of poor care, abuse and falsifying patient care records.

A subsequent report by Donna Ockenden published in 2015 labelled treatment of patients “institutional abuse” and triggered the board being put into ‘special measures.’

However a second report, costing £1.4m and produced by private consultancy the Health and Social Care Advisory Service (HASCAS), deemed there was no institutional abuse, angering families who felt it had deliberately glossed over treatment of their relatives.

Chief officer of patient body North Wales Community Health Council, Geoff Ryall-Harvey called the report “a whitewash “.

Phillip Dickaty, whose mother Joyce died while on the Tawel Fan ward in 2012, told the Daily Post: “Upon finding this out, I contacted the Coroner’s Office. They were under the impression that BCUHB had informed the families and were aghast when I said this wasn’t the case. As a fair process, the families should be able to submit their findings to the coroner.”

The news comes after families found out in May there had been a ‘secret’ investigation into the deaths by Denbighshire council.

It transpired the authority had conducted a two-year probe without informing any family members, against Welsh Government guidelines.