Health board to remain in special measures despite progress

The Welsh Government has confirmed that Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board will remain in special measures despite some progress being made in its most recent assessment.

The health board came under increased scrutiny in 2023 after financial irregularities were uncovered and “serious concerns” raised about its performance, leadership and culture.

The Welsh government subsequently placed it under special measures, with the entire board removed and staff from the finance team were later suspended.

The new progress report which reflects on the last two years, reveals progress across a range of areas, including culture, leadership and governance and quality and safety.

But the assessment says there are still challenges, especially in relation to planned care performance and timely access to urgent and emergency care.

Among the improvement’s highlighted are:

The number of people waiting more than two years for orthopaedic treatment has fallen by two-thirds since February 2023.

Mental health performance for adults and young people has improved.

The health board has the highest number of consultations carried out under the pharmacist independent prescribing service in Wales.

New NHS dental contracts worth more than £5m have been agreed.

Speaking about the progress made to date, Health Secretary Jeremy Miles said: “I want to commend the staff’s commitment and determination to make meaningful improvements to health services for the people throughout North Wales.

“I have seen first-hand examples of the excellent work taking place, but we know there is more to do to improve the experience of staff, patients and their families.

“We will continue to support the health board to improve and provide excellent care for North Wales.”

‘Failing on all fronts’

Despite the improvements cited in the report, Plaid Cymru has accused the government of “failing on all fronts” to rectify the health board’s issues, highlighting targets set out in the special measure priorities report published in October 2024 being missed.

The report outlined the government’s “expectations for improvements to be made over the next six months”.

This included the prioritisation of reducing 52-week waits at first outpatient stage month-on-month, improving ambulance handover performance and ensuring that more patients would be seen within the national 4 and 12-hour emergency department waiting time targets.

Despite these metrics being marked as priorities, the latest data from BCUHB shows that the figures of all of these metrics are going the wrong way, according to Plaid Cymru.

Plaid Cymru health spokesperson, Mabon ap Gwynfor says the latest date from the health board shows that waits of over 52 weeks rose by 2,321, while the number of hours lost due to delays in ambulance handovers increased by almost 2,000.

Fewer patients were seen within the national 4 and 12-hour emergency department waiting time targets, compared to the start of this six-month period.

‘Deterioration’

Mr ap Gwynfor said: “Six months on, one year waits at Betsi have increased by over 2,300, the number of hours lost due to ambulance handover delays have increased by almost 2,000 and fewer patients are waiting less than the 4- and 12-hour performance targets at emergency departments.

“On every single metric therefore, the Welsh Government has not only failed to translate its ambitions into tangible progress, they have actually overseen a further deterioration in the quality of NHS services in North Wales from an already very low base.

“This typifies the broader inescapable reality that, despite the considerable turnover in ministerial personnel and hundreds of millions of pounds thrown at sticking plaster solutions, Labour’s record of mismanaging our precious health service is constant.

“When it comes to the performance of the health service, Labour in Wales only knows how to deal in the currency of failure.”