Llyr Gruffydd MS Member of the Senedd for North Wales

On Tuesday Llyr Gruffydd MS asked Vaughan Gething, the First Minister if he would revise his previous view on the allegations of historic institutional abuse in mental health units in north Wales.  This comes in the light of new evidence of the culture of abuse in units in the past.

In his question to the First Minister Llyr Gruffydd asked-

“Do you wish now to revise your previous view? Should you not have done more at the time to get to the truth? And do you now regret painting a very different picture when you were Minister, given that we now know that the reality was very, very different?”

It was revealed in recent weeks that the Nursing and Midwifery Council had taken steps to strike off a psychiatric nurse after a hearing for what they describe as institutional abuse at the unit, going back over 10 years. At the time of the alleged incidents of abuse Mr Gething was the minister responsible for health.

Mr Gething responded-

“When I was both the Deputy Minister for health and, indeed, the Cabinet Minister for health, I was always really clear about the fact that there were significant failings in healthcare, and at the time when I made those comments, there wasn't the evidence to support the finding of institutional abuse.

“What we did, though, was to have a searching investigation into what had taken place there, and, indeed, that continues now, not just in the one unit but actually to look at mental health services across north Wales. So, the Government, Eluned Morgan, has ensured that the Royal College of Psychiatrists have undertaken an independent review of mental health services to understand and provide assurance on progress that is being made against previous recommendations.”