Welsh Conservatives have expressed serious concern after figures revealed that Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board recorded 11 ‘never events’ in 2025/26, an increase of six compared with the previous year.
Never events are serious, largely preventable patient safety incidents that should never occur if safety guidance is followed
Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board has been under enhanced Welsh Government intervention for 11 years.
Natasha Asghar MS, Shadow Minister for Health and Social Care, said:
"The fact that supposedly ‘never events’ have more than doubled in the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board area is deeply alarming.
“These are serious incidents that should be preventable, so to see them increasing at a Health Board that has already spent 11 years under Welsh Government intervention is simply unacceptable.
"Patients and their families deserve to know that when they enter hospital, they will receive safe, high-quality car
“These figures raise serious questions about whether the current intervention arrangements are delivering the improvements patients were promised.
"Ministers must explain why, after more than a decade of special measures and intervention, patient safety indicators are moving in the wrong direction.
"The Welsh Government must ensure the Health Board is held to account, that lessons are learned from every never event and that urgent action is taken to restore confidence in NHS services."
