BETSI Cadwaladr Health Board was forced to pay out more in redress payments last year to residents who complained about its service than all the other Welsh health boards combined, shocking figures obtained by the Cambrian News reveal.

The north Wales health board had to fork out £61,999.11 in complaint payments between April 2016 and March this year, and the Public Ombudsman for Wales Nick Bennett said he was “concerned” over the figures.

In all, the Ombudsman closed 194 complaints against Betsi Cadwaladr during the 12 months, an average of nearly four a week.

The other six health boards in Wales combined paid out £53,430 to complainants in the same period. That figure includes £250 paid out by the Welsh Ambulance Service.

Mr Bennett told the Cambrian News: “I am concerned about both the volume and outcome of complaints against Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board over the past 12 months.

“Last year I issued five health public interest reports across Wales and three of those involved the same hospital – Ysbyty Glan Clwyd.

“While public services are facing unprecedented pressures, it is essential that lessons are learnt when things do go wrong.

“We have assigned an improvement officer to work alongside the health board and hope to see better complaint handling and learning as a result of that.

“Additionally, we will be hosting a Health Complaint Handling seminar next month which representatives from the health board are due to attend.”

The £61,999.11 the health board was forced to pay includes £3,500 to cancer sufferer Mr D after the Ombudsman found there were “excessive delays in conducting diagnostic investigations and in the scheduling of his surgery”.

They were ordered to pay £8,350 to Ms A after her father, Mr M, died of sepsis at Glan Clwyd Hospital.

The Ombudsman found he “could not rule out the possibility that, had clinicians intervened sooner, a different outcome for Mr M may have resulted.”

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