Welsh NHS bosses 'not the problem' say doctors

The Royal College of Physicians say extra investment "needs to be spread more broadly" in the Welsh NHS

Welsh NHS health board executives are not "the problem", the Royal College of Physicians have said, after recent figures showed the number of people waiting for treatment in Wales had risen.

First Minister Eluned Morgan said on Friday that health bosses had to do "better"" before they received more funding from the Welsh government.

Responding to her comments, Dr Sacha Moore from the Royal College of Physicians said: "I don't think the health bosses are the problem here."

Latest NHS figures show more than 800,000 people in Wales are now waiting for treatment - setting a record for a 10th month in a row.

The numbers waiting in Welsh A&Es for 12 hours or more also hit more than 10,800 - the second highest on record.

Since becoming first minister, Morgan has repeatedly emphasised that she would be holding health bosses on top salaries to account over NHS performance.

'Burnt out'

But Dr Moore said that extra funding to help cut waiting lists had "predominantly focussed on evening and weekend appointments".

"In order to deliver those appointments you need a robust workforce... and we are at the moment dealing with a workforce that is largely burnt out," he said.

He told BBC Politics Wales that to deal with the complex problems in the health service, the money "needs to be spread more broadly than it is at the moment".

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Any Questions? programme, broadcast from Porthcawl in Bridgend county, Morgan said: "The system is one where we, as a government, set out the parameters, we then tell the health boards what they're to do."

She said there needed to be "better management by the health boards", adding an "accountability system" ensures that "with the extra money that's gone in, they [health boards] won't get the money unless we get the outcome".

She said more cash from the UK government meant there was extra investment for the NHS and she wanted to "assure" people that waiting times would come down.