NHS Wales: Overpaid staff must repay thousands of pounds

A total of 143 staff have been affected, according to the North Wales Shared Services Partnership

More than 140 NHS staff were overpaid due to a finance error and are now being told that the money will be reclaimed from their salary.

The error applies to people in pay band 8a and above, meaning everyone affected will be earning more than £48,526.

Ynys Mon MP Virginia Crosbie said a "distraught" constituent visited her saying she had to repay about £7,000.

Half of the staff affected are from Betsi Cadwaladr health board in north Wales.

The excess payment, totalling £186,000 have been happening since April 2021 and affect 143 members of staff.

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North Wales Shared Services Partnership (NWSSP), which delivers administrative services for NHS Wales, said: "All staff concerned have been contacted by their health body.

"NWSSP has apologised for any issues caused as a result of the payroll error and is working directly with NHS organisations to recover any overpayments with the staff involved."

MP Virginia Crosbie said one constituent she spoke to was "distraught"

Betsi Cadwaladr's deputy workforce director, Jason Brannan, said about 70 members of staff there had been affected and the health board had "contacted those staff affected directly to apologise and explain the issue, as well as talking them through their options".

Conservative MP Ms Crosbie, whose constituency covers the Betsi area, said: "My heart goes out to all those staff who have been overpaid and now face finding cash to repay when times are hard."

Ms Crosbie said the monthly amount incorrectly paid was often "so small it was not queried" but then accumulated over time.

She said: "What is going on at the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board and how it is being handled by Welsh government, is starting to look like a national scandal.

"And when I say national, I mean UK."