Commenting on today’s report that six of the seven new local health boards are to go more than £43mn over budget, Shadow Health Minister Andrew RT Davies AM said:
“When she established these bodies the Health Minister insisted they had to live within their means. They are clearly failing to do that.
“We need answers as to how this has been allowed to happen and whether this is not just the tip of the iceberg.
“Local health boards are under severe pressure to make millions of pounds worth of savings, putting additional pressure on frontline services.
“Deficits of this level will make it very difficult for LHBs to improve patient care.
“They also highlight the Assembly Government’s failure to effectively reform the way the NHS was run in the years of plenty.
“Now budgets are under great pressure it will be even harder to balance the books while ensuring the highest standards of care for patients.”
