Ex-MP blasts health board over husband’s Covid-related death in hospital:
HE CAUGHT VIRUS IN HOSPITAL AFTER 2 NEGATIVE TESTS
A FORMER MP has blasted the region’s health board as she continues to fight for answers over her husband’s death.
Betty Williams’ husband Evan, 79, died on Good Friday in 2020, a fortnight after being taken to Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor with severe pneumonia.
He had twice tested negative for Covid-19 and was on a general ward before falling seriously ill and being moved to the intensive care unit and placed on a ventilator.
He was tested again for the disease the day before his death, and the positive result was revealed to the former Conwy MP the day after her husband’s death.
Now, an investigation by Newyddion S4C found nearly a quarter of people in Wales who have died from Covid-19 were infected in hospital.
Speaking to BBC Radio
Wales, Mrs Williams, who was Welsh Labour MP for Conwy from 1997 to 2010, said hospital staff took two tests over two days after Evan arrived in hospital.
She said: “I asked ‘why did he need one on the second day after admission,’ and I was told that they thought the first one had been lost.
“I think that says a lot about the systems they have there.
“I have to say that the most senior officers of the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board do not inspire me with confidence in the manner they have dealt with my concerns over the last 15 months.
“I have had to chase almost every letter I’ve sent them, and then received inadequate responses.
“I’m sure I’m not the only one that could complain along those lines.”
Mrs Williams, 76, said another sample was taken on the day before he died, and a positive result came through on the morning of the day he passed away.
She said: “The doctors didn’t see the result until shortly after Evan had died in the evening.
“That was 12 hours later. There’s clearly something wrong with their system.”
She said she was also denied access to speak to a doctor.
Mrs Williams said: “Two days before Evan died, he rang me at about 9.15am on his mobile to say – and his words were – ‘I’ve never been so ill in my life’.
“Well, if you knew my husband and he said that to you, you would understand he genuinely meant that because he wasn’t a person to complain about things.
“As soon as I finished the conversation with him, because he was becoming breathless, I rang the ward and asked to speak to a doctor because of what Evan had just told me, and the staff nurse said to me, ‘the doctor won’t be able to tell you anything different from what we tell you when you ring to seek advice about your husband.’
“I think that was quite, quite wrong.
“I think I should have been given access to speak to a doctor on that day, because Evan died the following Friday.
She also claimed there was a ‘do not resuscitate’ order that she did not find out about until after he died, and added that she felt they should not have made that decision without consulting her.
Jo Whitehead, chief executive of Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, said: “We extend our deepest condolences to Mrs Williams and her family for their loss in April of last year.
“We have investigated the concerns Mrs Williams raised and provided responses in June and October of last year, and our hospital medical director has offered to meet to discuss these.
“We recognise Mrs Williams
remains concerned about her husband’s care and this is being further investigated by senior clinical staff.
“We apologise for how long this thorough review is taking at what must be a very difficult time, and we aim to complete this review and respond to Mrs Williams as soon as possible.”