Hywel Dda: Health board caused mum and autistic son 'injustice'

A mum and her severely autistic son were caused "significant injustice" by a health board, an investigation has found.

Hywel Dda University Health Board failed to make a plan to help the 17-year-old, and also left his carer mum without support, the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales said.

The mum, known only as Ms B, said she felt her family had been "destroyed".

The health board has apologised and accepted the report's recommendations.

The teenager, Mr C, is non-verbal and has challenging behaviours.

His mum complained that the health board failed to provide her son with appropriate psychology services.

In a report, ombudsman Nick Bennett agreed it failed to take prompt steps and make arrangements to meet the clinical needs of Mr C following the closure of a psychology service.

"The health board's communication with Ms B was inadequate, which left her uninformed at a time when Mr C's challenging behaviours were further complicated by the impact of the restrictions due to the Covid lockdown," it added.

The investigation also found "no evidence" of contingency planning should the psychology service come to an end, leaving patients "unprepared for the abrupt end".

Mr Bennett said it was a "highly concerning case where a mother felt as if her family had been destroyed".

He said: "The ending of the specialist service left a huge gap for Ms B and all families with children with learning disabilities in the health board's area."

The report's recommendations included an apology for the failings and a review to identify any other patients with unmet clinical needs as a result of the specialist services closures.

Hywel Dda's chief executive Steve Moore said the health board was "very sorry for the failings identified" and has written an apology to the family.

"This was a very challenging period for the health board's learning disability team and the psychology service in particular, due to high levels of staff absence, vacancies and unsuccessful recruitment initiatives," he said.

Mr Moore also said that measures have been introduced to "ensure appropriate communication is in place to respond to complaints".