The BBC report that the seven new health boards which run the NHS in Wales are set to go more than £43m over budget. Six are forecasting a deficit for the end of their first financial year, with all under pressure to make savings.
Research by BBC Wales into the latest combined financial position shows the seven boards have a running deficit of around £67m, which they forecast being able to bring down to £43m.
The overspend is set against the overall health and social services budget of nearly £6bn.
The Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, serving north Wales, is the only one forecasting a break even position for the end of the financial year.
However, it currently has a deficit of £10.4m.
Commenting Welsh Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Minister Peter Black said:
“We know that there is wastage in the health service, that former Senior Managers are still being paid to do very little in the new boards and that reorganization is being viewed as a panacea when the Government should be tackling structural problems such as duplication of expenditure between social care and health, so it should not really be a surprise that they are going over-budget.”
“We were originally told that these boards would be more cost effective and save us money, but as time goes by it appears that this reorganisation has been botched. The Government should have shown leadership and tackled the difficult issues such as waste and redundancies, but until they do, we will continue to see the financial situation in the health service deteriorate.”
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