Health Minister, Vaughan Gething, has set out the improvements he expects to see in the performance of Betsi Cadwaldr University Health Board to move out of special measures.
This was published under the 2016 to 2021 administration of the Welsh Government
Mr Gething today told Assembly Members that progress had been made in the areas that led to the North Wales health board being escalated to special measures four years ago.
Maternity services and primary care out of hours’ services at Betsi Cadwaldr are now out of special measures,
he said.
The health board has also achieved progress against the expectations set out in the special measures improvement framework to be achieved by April 2019. These include developments in governance and quality processes, board leadership, mental health services, engagement and partnership working and achieving sustainable in hours general practice.
But the Minister said significant action and progress was still needed on the outstanding concerns to assure the people of North Wales that sustainable improvements are being made.
Mr Gething said:
Improvements are needed in financial management and performance levels for mental health, planned and unscheduled care. To that end I have set out today the areas I expect to see the Board now focus on. We will continue to place support alongside to deliver the necessary improvements. The Board has already demonstrated turnaround in the services already de-escalated and now needs to use this learning to transform and make improvements in the outstanding areas of concern.
Special measures is not the normal state of affairs. I expect to see significant progress towards meeting the expectations for de-escalation to be considered.
Any decisions on changing the escalation status of Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board will be taken after receiving advice from the tripartite group (Wales Audit Office, Healthcare Inspectorate Wales and the NHS Wales Chief Executive) under the NHS Wales Escalation and Intervention arrangements.