NHS Wales: Health boards must find £65m extra savings

2 hours ago

Image caption,

The deficit at Hywel Dda health board in west Wales has worsened in recent months

The NHS in Wales will be asked to find tens of millions of pounds worth of extra savings, as the Welsh government stands by to bail health boards out.

Health Minister Eluned Morgan has told health boards to find extra savings of nearly £65m to bring their predicted overspends down by 10%.

There are fears this could lead to reduced bed capacity during the most difficult winter months.

But health boards look set to receive more than £460m towards overspends.

Currently between them, health boards are heading for deficits totalling at least £650m, but this figure could well be more based on latest financial estimates.

Now they are being asked to rein in those overspends by at least 10%.

BBC Wales analysis can reveal what the new saving targets means for each health board:

If health boards achieve their extra savings then the Welsh government, it is understood, will cover the rest of their overspends.

Last month, £425m was diverted to the health budget from other cabinet briefs. Extra money has also been found for the NHS from within the health budget.

It is understood that £460.2m will be provided as health boards struggle to deal with inflationary pressures and the rising costs of covering vacancies by using agency staff and locums.

But BBC Wales understands a number health boards will struggle to achieve the cuts needed.

Hywel Dda health board papers from September suggested the organisation was £35m adrift of hitting its original overspend plan.

It is understood that finding the extra savings will be particularly challenging for Aneurin Bevan health board, covering Newport and the old Gwent valleys.

Earlier BBC Wales analysis suggested Welsh health board could be on course to collectively overspend by around £800m by March next year.

Speaking to the Senedd’s health committee, Ms Morgan said that there could be fewer beds available in the NHS this winter because of the need to make savings.

Health boards have been asked to reduce their spending on temporary agency staff and there are fears this could make it more difficult for hospitals to open up more capacity to deal with surges in demand.

“We do have to be sensitive that we will have surge times – and there may be an issue relating to the number of beds,” the health minister told MSs.

But she insisted that there were a higher number of beds in the NHS in Wales per head of population than in England.

Prof Meriel Jenney, medical director at Cardiff and Vale Health Board told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast she was optimistic it would be scaled back later on Wednesday if they were able to do so.

“It was a combination of a very large number of patients presenting, many of who were frail and requiring more complex care together with a large number of patients within the organisation that we needed to move through and discharge,” she said.