Healthcare Inspectorate Wales

Healthcare Inspectorate Wales is independent of the Hospital. It is a special Health Authority that carries out functions on behalf of the Secretary of State and the National Assembly for Wales. The Inspectorate performs functions of a public nature and is therefore a “public authority” for the purposes of the Human Rights Act 1998.

The members of the Inspectorate [known as Reviewers] are drawn from doctors, lawyers, nurses, social workers, psychologists and other specialists as well as interested lay persons. Healthcare Inspectorate Wales reviews the operation of the Act and the way its powers of detention and consent to treatment provisions are exercised, and also ensures the rights of detained patients are being upheld.

The Reviewers visit all hospitals and units where patients are detained under the Act. They can interview patients, examine legal documentation, investigate complaints and monitor deaths of detained patients. Perhaps most importantly they prepare a report every two years which is laid before Parliament. The Inspectorate also issues practice notes on special issues related to the Act.