Retired nurse tells judge her daughter ‘is not safe’ in Betsi Cadwaladr health board hospital

Doctors at a health authority criticised by a judge who said the needs of a man with mental health issues had been “neglected” have come under fire from the mother of another patient.

The woman, a retired nurse, raised concerns in a court hearing on Thursday about the way her daughter is being cared for at a hospital run by the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, which is based in Bangor, Gwynedd.

She told an online hearing in the Court of Protection, where issues relating to people who lack the mental capacity to make decisions are analysed, that her daughter, who is aged in her 30s, is “not safe” at the hospital.

The woman said she fears for her daughter’s life.

Mr Justice Hayden, who is based in London, last year criticised the board after considering a case involving a man in his 40s at another Court of Protection hearing.

In October, he said the man’s needs had been “substantially unaddressed”, “unacknowledged”, “unidentified” and “neglected”.

The judge, who ruled the man could not be identified in media reports, said the board had breached court orders and he spoke of “substantial and alarming failures”.

He said “so much” had gone wrong.

The woman made complaints about her daughter’s treatment at a hearing overseen by a different judge.

Cover up

“They are treating her as if it is all psychiatric,” the woman told Mr Justice Cobb, who is also based in London.

“It is not psychiatric.

“All they have tried to do is cover up their mistakes and lie.

“(My daughter) is not safe there – she never will be safe there.

“I am fearful for my daughter’s life.”

Her husband, who also has a medical background, told the judge he has “concerns” about his daughter’s care.

Mr Justice Cobb has been asked to make decisions relating to the treatment of the couple’s daughter.

Barrister Emma Sutton, representing the board, told him the woman has been diagnosed with “autistic spectrum disorder” and a “significant number of physical conditions”.

The judge oversaw a preliminary hearing on Thursday and the case is due to be reconsidered in the near future.

Mr Justice Cobb said the woman cannot be identified in media reports.