Staff removed from duties as part of dementia unit investigation:

HEALTH BOARD PROBING‘ CARE CONCERN’ AT ANGLESEY FACILITY

STAFF have been removed from their duties as part of an investigation into an Anglesey dementia unit.

The health board says a “care concern” was raised at Ysbyty Cefni Hospital in Llangefni, which treats people with dementia.

The North Wales Community Health Council (NWCHC) had raised concerns about staffing levels at the unit after an inspection carried out last Christmas.

It said the unit had a “challenging mix of patients”.

In 2017 a report from Health Inspectorate Wales (HIW) told the board that it must “monitor the mix of patients on Cemlyn ward to ensure that patients’ needs are fully met and that the service provided is in line with the intended purpose of the ward as an assessment and treatment centre for older people with memory problems”.

Although the level of care was praised

in the report, it also recommended employees underwent restraint training after some staff said they needed it, along with specialist dementia training and suicide awareness instruction.

Geoff Ryall-Harvey, chief officer with NWCHC, said the report by his organisation into care at Cefni also pointed out it was supposed to be a specialist dementia facility. He said: “It’s being used for all sorts of mental health conditions.

“We raised that as a problem because that was one of the issues at Tawel Fan.

“This is something that can and does happen in psychiatric services but it’s extremely worrying that it’s happening in Betsi after the extreme focus on patient care and safety following Tawel Fan.”

Tawel Fan dementia ward at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd was closed in 2015 after a damning report by Donna Ockenden highlighted “institutional abuse”.

The report hastened the health board’s decline into special measures, which it remains in today.

The board ordered another report by consultancy Hascas, authored by Androula Johnson. It cost £1.4m and did not find any evidence of institutional abuse.

A spokesman for Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board said: “We take the safeguarding of patients extremely seriously and actively encourage our staff to raise any concerns they have.

“Following a concern relating to the care provided by one member of staff at Cefni Hospital, we are following our internal policies in order to be assured that there are no ongoing issues and to ensure that all appropriate processes are being followed.”