CONCERNS have been raised for mental health patients in Dwyfor and Meirionnydd after some are being sent as far as south-east England for treatment.

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board says they have had to look at transferring patients outside the local area if there are no beds available at their mental health wards in north Wales.

Dwyfor Meirionnydd MP Liz Saville Roberts says she is ‘very concerned’ about a 15-year-old girl from Gwynedd who has been sent to a hospital in Cheshire.

She said: “From my own casework, I know that some patients have to be transported hundreds of miles away from their families to get access to a specialist bed, even as far as Sussex.

“This places an unnecessary burden on both the patient and their family, at a time when they need stability and support from people they know and trust.

BCUHB says they always aim to transfer the patient back to north Wales as soon as possible.

See the full story in this week’s north editions of the Cambrian News, in shops Thursday