Prostate cancer: Apology over failure to monitor patients
Failures by a health board led to eight cancer patients not being appropriately monitored or included in treatment targets after being referred to England, the ombudsman has found.
Of the 16 patients on Wale's Betsi Cadwaladr health board's prostatectomy waiting list in August 2019, eight were referred to England for treatment. None of those treated in England met the health board's targets.
The health board, which covers north Wales, has apologised to the patients. It said it had accepted the findings of the report and agreed to implement its recommendations.
The investigation was launched after a report into the case of a prostate cancer patient raised suspicion there were further incidents.
Public Services Ombudsman for Wales Nick Bennett said: "Clearly there's consequences for any type of cancer treatment, where people who are treated in England do not receive the same monitoring, do not receive the same harm reviews...
"Going forward, this must never happen again."
Source: BBC News, 9 September 2021