Serious concerns have emerged over the independence of the latest report into Tawel Fan, which is due to be published tomorrow.
The Tawel Fan ward at Glan Clwyd Hospital, Denbighshire, was closed in 2013 and an initial investigation by Donna Ockenden exposed "institutional abuse" on the ward.
Two more reviews have since been commissioned, with Donna Ockenden reviewing governance arrangements and the second undertaken by the Health and Social Care Advisory Service (HASCAS), which is examining the impact on individual patients and is due to be published tomorrow.
It is the independence of the second review where concerns have emerged, particularly in relation to the links between the HASCAS organisation, the Labour Party and the Welsh Government.
These concerns include:
- The current chair of the body overseeing the review, HASCAS – Jim McDonald – is a former Labour councillor in Kimberley, Nottinghamshire and was involved in a bullying scandal.
- The role of a senior Welsh Government civil servant, Simon Brindle, who was a former director of HASCAS, working in the Welsh Government’s Health and Social Services department while the scandal unfolded. He is currently employed by the Welsh Government as Deputy Director in the Brexit Department. He resigned as director of HASCAS in October 2014, a month after the Donna Ockenden’s original report was made available to Betsi and the Welsh Government.
It is also understood that the communications for Betsi Cadwaladr are being handled by Freshwater UK – founded by Jeremy Corbyn’s former spin-doctor Steve Howell.
Commenting, Clwyd West AM, Darren Millar said:
“That these organisations have such links to the Labour Party and Welsh Government will raise serious questions over the independence of their work.
“This appears to be cronyism of the highest order and will give no one in North Wales, not least the Tawel Fan families, confidence in the process.
“It suggests the Welsh Government may be more interested in protecting its own reputation and that of the Welsh Labour Party than finding the truth about what happened at Tawel Fan.”
Shadow Health Secretary, Angela Burns AM said:
“Transparency and honesty are vital in all areas of public service delivery – it’s how we can improve and learn from mistakes.
“Therefore I was very surprised and uncomfortable to learn about the close links between these organisations, the Welsh Government and the Labour Party.
“It’s not good enough just to claim independence and impartiality – Tawel Fan was so shocking that independence in this case must be comprehensively demonstrated.”