Shadow Minister for Health and Social Care, Natasha Asghar MS, has said lessons must be learnt, following the publication of a report from the Public Services Ombudsman into the death of a patient.
The report identified a series of failures in prescribing, procedures and communication, which led to a patient being wrongly supplied with morphine when discharged from hospital.
The Ombudsman concluded that basic checks were not carried out at Wrexham Maelor Hospital which could have identified the error before the medication was issued. The patient died from a fatal morphine overdose two days after leaving hospital.
Natasha Asghar MS said:
"This is a real tragedy and my thoughts are with the patient’s family.
“The Ombudsman's findings are deeply troubling and highlight a catalogue of failures which should never have happened.
"Patients and their families have a right to expect that robust procedures are in place to ensure medications are prescribed and dispensed safely.
"It is vital that lessons are learned from this case and that action is taken to prevent similar incidents from happening again.
“The Health Minister must urgently ensure that the Ombudsman's recommendations are fully implemented and that health boards across Wales review their own procedures to identify any similar risks."
