Betsi health board: Boss suspension 'short-sighted', union says

The health board has been placed under Welsh Government special measures

The suspension of the chief executive of a troubled health board is "short-sighted", a union boss has said.

Prof Trevor Purt was suspended from Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) after it was put into special measures.

BCUHB ran the much-criticised Tawel Fan ward at Glan Clwyd Hospital, Denbighshire, which closed in 2013.

A health and care union boss said the move would "do nothing" to address "deep-seated" problems at the board.

Prof Trevor Purt had apologised on behalf of the board after the Tawel Fan report

Jon Restell, chief executive of the Managers in Partnership (MiP) union, said: "This will only create more instability, which is not in the patients' interests."

A report found there was "institutional abuse" at the Tawel Fan mental health unit, where patients were allegedly treated like animals in a zoo.

Deputy chief executive of the Welsh NHS Simon Dean was appointed as interim head of the board on Tuesday.