Welsh Government confirm the extra funding to in order to fill historical underpayment
Elin Jones, Assembly Member for Ceredigion, has welcomed the decision to award £27 million of extra funding to Hywel Dda Health Board, following a review into the excess costs put on the health board due to the unique circumstances of the region that it covers.
A review by the Welsh Government, as part of the Targeted Intervention support provided to Hywel Dda Health Board, found that two factors, demographics and scale, generated excess costs that were unavoidable to the Board.
The review, undertaken by Deloitte LLP, confirms the view held by many people in Ceredigion and mid and west Wales that Hywel Dda faces a unique set of healthcare challenges. In response the Welsh Government has decided release of £27 million of additional recurrent funding to the Health Board.
Elin Jones AM said:
“This is a welcome report by Deloitte, which has analysed costs that can be avoided and those that can't be avoided - and has identified that demographics and scale of the Hywel Dda region contribute to unavoidable costs.
“I'm glad that this has provided evidence to the Health Cabinet Secretary to provide an increase in funding to Hywel Dda by £27 million every year. This will release much-needed extra funding into our health services in Ceredigion. However the jury's out on whether this will be enough to fully address the cost of running the NHS in west Wales.”