Betsi Cadwaladr health board given extra help

Extra help for the troubled health board serving north Wales has been announced as it faces another two years of special measures.

An improvement team will help Betsi Cadwaladr managers set key milestones to be reviewed every six months.

Deputy Health Minister Vaughan Gething said the aim was to provide "the right support at the right time".

Acting chief executive Simon Dean will return to his role as deputy NHS Wales chief "in due course", he added.

The board has been under the highest possible level of Welsh government intervention since June, for what Health Minister Mark Drakeford called "serious and outstanding concerns" about its leadership.

A report in May found "institutional abuse" at the Tawel Fan mental health ward in Glan Clwyd Hospital.

In June, it emerged there was a fraud investigation into aspects of the board's spending plans.

Special measures were extended for another two years in October.

Announcing the extra support on Wednesday, Mr Gething said he expected to see a health board with "strong leadership and robust governance" emerge over the next two years.

He said the announcement followed a look at how NHS trusts in England were being supported through special measures.

"The English experience has highlighted the importance of providing the right support at the right time," he said.

"It is also clear that organisations need time to achieve a successful and sustainable turnaround.

"The establishment of a health board improvement team to provide additional capacity, together with the appointment of a new, permanent chief executive, will help the board achieve a successful and sustainable turnaround."

Governance, mental health services, out-of-hours primary care, and public engagement were named as specific areas needing improvement.

Betsi Cadwaladr chairman Dr Peter Higson said the board welcomed the additional support.

"I believe it will enable us to build on our programme of improvement, which has delivered progress in a number of areas over the past four months," he said.

Welsh Conservative Shadow Health Minister Darren Millar AM said: "Change cannot come soon enough for north Wales and Labour ministers should set an urgent timetable for immediate improvements."