Governance issues at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board

The Public Accounts Committees of the Fourth and Fifth Senedd  undertook considerable work looking at the governance arrangements at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB).

The Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee of the Sixth Senedd agreed to revisit these issues to discuss lessons learnt, future plans and implementation of the outstanding previous Committee’s recommendations with BCUHB.

The Committee took evidence from BCUHB on 9 March 2022. The Chair subsequently wrote on:

• 31 March 2022 to BCUHB to follow up on a number of matters raised during the evidence session; and
• 18 May 2022 to the Welsh Government regarding NHS Wales Escalation and Intervention Arrangements.

Responses from BCUHB and the Welsh Government were received on:

• 29 April 2022 from BCUHB;
• 20 June 2022 from the Welsh Government.

The Committee considered the detailed response from BCUHB at its meeting on 25 May 2022 and the response from the Welsh Government at its meeting on 6 July 2022. The Committee agreed to review and revisit the progress being made by the Board in relation to several issues in Autumn 2022.

The Committee postponed this work following the qualification of the Health Board’s 2021-22 accounts and the significant errors identified in them by the Auditor General, which are subject to further investigation.

At its meeting on 10 November 2022, the Committee took evidence from the North Wales Community Health Council. This evidence will be used to inform future evidence sessions with BCUHB officials.

On 23 February 2023, Audit Wales published a public interest report: Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board – Review of Board Effectiveness which the Committee discussed in private at its meeting on 30 March 2023.

The Committee held a concurrent meeting with the Health and Social Care (HSC) Committee on 25 May 2023 to discuss issues at BCUHB further to a joint letter to the Minister for Health and Social Services on 19 April 2023 which highlighted both of the Committees concerns.

The Committee took evidence in a private session from BCUHB officials on 5 July 2023 to discuss matters relating to their 2020/21 Accounts. The Committee were generally satisfied with the evidence provided in July but identified a number of areas for future follow up.

The Minister for Health and Social Service wrote to the Committee on 20 November 2023 to provide an update on a number of workstreams.