Extra funding for special measures health board

Glan Clwyd Hospital is one of those run by Betsi Cadwaladr

A health board which has been in special measures for five years is to get a multi-million pound assistance package to help it make improvements.

Health Minister Vaughan Gething told the Senedd that Betsi Cadwaladr health board, which serves north Wales, had shown "genuine progress".

The board went into special measures in 2015 after a report found institutional abuse at a mental health ward.

The three-and-a-half year package will provide up to £82m per year.

Plaid Cymru said the money was welcome but said the health board had "had its day".

In his statement to the Senedd on Tuesday, Mr Gething said: "The heath board has recently submitted a comprehensive and balanced account of progress during the period of special measures escalation.

"This shows genuine progress but also insight and acceptance of areas for ongoing action and improvement."

Some services, including maternity and out-of-hours, have already come out of special measures.

Betsi Cadwaldr was put in special measures in June 2015, after a report found "institutional abuse" at the Tawel Fan mental health ward at Glan Clwyd Hospital

"Measures of quality, such as responding to concerns and infection prevention and control, demonstrate that historic performance issues have been addressed," Mr Gething said.

He told the Senedd the board had made a "positive and sustained response to Covid-19" in the most difficult of circumstances.

He announced he would be giving longer-term funding to tackle "disproportionately poor" performance in high-profile areas such as referral to treatment and accident and emergency services.

The funding is being provided to enable the board to plan sustainably for the future, he said.

It will provide:

• cover for the budget deficit of up to £40m per year

• £30m per year to improve unscheduled care and build sustainable planned care, including orthopaedics

• £12m per year to support improvement and implementation of the mental health strategy and broader capability and capacity

The minister will also establish a task and finish group to make recommendations on a proposed north Wales medical school.

Plaid Cymru's health spokesman Rhun ap Iorweth said the board had "had its day" and and the north needed new health and care structures.

He added: "Additional money is welcome of course, but sadly, this statement reads largely like any one of the statements that we have heard over the past five and a half years since Betsi Cadwaladr was put into special measures - some improvements claimed, and other areas highlighted as needing more work."