Health board apologises after releasing the wrong body to a bereaved family for the second time in a month

A health board has issued a statement apologising, after it released the wrong body to a bereaved family from a hospital mortuary for the second time in a month.

The error happened in November 2023, shortly before a similar incident was reported in December.

Aneurin Bevan University Health Board said “human error” was to blame for both incidents.

It said it a statement it was “utterly devastated” for the family involved.

News that the Grange Hospital in Cwmbran has again released the wrong body was described as “deeply worrying” by a local MS.

Blunders

Peredur Owen Griffiths – Plaid Cymru MS for South Wales East – said: “When news of the first mix up with a body emerged last December, I hoped it would be an isolated incident.

“We have now found out that it has happened again around the same time as the first incident that came to light. This is a deeply worrying occurrence which will do little to reassure public confidence in the competence of the hospital’s morgue.

“I appreciate that procedures have tightened up since the blunders first came to light but there needs to be reassessment of the processes at the mortuary because clearly there were serious and significant errors in the way things were run. This cannot happen again.

“I will be looking to raise this matter with the Labour Government in charge of health in Wales.”