Investigators are brought into crisis-hit mental health facility

EXTERNAL investigators are probing a controversial NHS mental health unit.

- CONOR GOGARTY Investigations editor [e-mail]

It comes after the Hafan y Coed facility at Llandough Hospital, Vale of Glamorgan, was hit by two damning inspection reports.

Last October, Healthcare Inspectorate Wales published a report highlighting serious failings at two of the facility’s adult mixed-gender wards, Cedar and Alder, including concerns over patient restraint incidents and a lack of training.

‘And, in July this year, the watchdog released a critical report about another of the unit's wards - Maple, which cares for men who have committed a serious crime or pose a risk to others.

A source close to the unit told the Western Mail an external audit is now taking place due to a lack of improvement following the inspection findings. It is linked to the Welsh Government’s “targeted intervention” into concerns over the beleaguered Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, which runs the unit.