The BBC report that the backlog of maintenance work for hospitals in Wales now stands at £505m. The findings published by the Welsh Health Estates show a rise of £37m in the outstanding repair bills for 2008 and 2009.
Significant increases in the repair bill are reported for backlog costs at Morriston Hospital in Swansea, Prince Philip Hospital in Llanelli, Cardiff Royal Infirmary and Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor which, between them, contributed more than £33m to the total.
The Welsh Liberal Democrats have accused the assembly government of failing to prioritise the issue. Their health spokesperson, Peter Black said: “A year ago, we realised the situation was dire and called on the government to take action. The Minister made it clear that this was not a priority and, as a result of her inaction, the situation is now even worse.”
“The report states that there is a total of £241m ‘high and significant risk’ maintenance backlog which should be ‘addressed at the earliest possible opportunity’.
“But the government have refused to even bring forward a plan on how this will be achieved.”
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