Healthcare Inspectorate Wales has designated the Emergency Department at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd as a Service Requiring Significant Improvement. 

Following an unannounced inspection carried out in May, Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW) has designated the Emergency Department at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd, in Denbighshire, part of Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, as a service requiring significant improvement (SRSI).

It requires improvements to support consistently safe and well-managed care, underpinned by effective leadership and oversight, and signals that HIW expects clear and urgent improvement, supported by stronger oversight, with enhanced monitoring and follow-up to track progress.

“This designation means we expect clear and urgent improvement, supported by stronger oversight and accountability,” said Healthcare Inspectorate Wales chief executive Alun Jones. 

“While we recognise the pressures facing emergency departments, services must have effective arrangements in place to manage those pressures safely. We will continue to monitor progress closely and will report our full findings in September,” he continued. 

The department was previously subject to SRSI arrangements between May 2022 and August 2024. This latest designation indicates that the improvements made during that period have not been sustained.

Continuing problems

The designation is another symptom of the continuing issues at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. 

In February, HIW published its latest mental health inspection report following an unannounced visit to the Board’s Hergest Unit at Ysbyty Gwynedd in September last year.

It examined the quality of mental health care, patient experience and leadership across the Aneurin, Cynan, and Taliesin wards, as well as the unit’s Mental Health Suite.

Some progress had been made since HIW’s previous inspection in May 2023, but the lack of structured therapeutic activity programmes across all wards remained a concern, with no progress since the previous inspection.

As Healthcare Today has reported, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board was placed in special measures – the highest level of escalation – in 2023. The eighth progress report to be published since the escalation to special measures in November last year, found that “fragility, quality and consistency of service delivery” continue to be of real concern across a number of services.