The health minister has admitted her 12 million pounds health board bailout may have been in the works as long ago as last October.
Answering a written assembly question from the Welsh Conservatives, the minister said ‘my officials made provision during the third quarter of 2011-12 for a potential risk that a small number of NHS organisations may require additional flexibility to keep within their financial targets for the year.’
Speaking to media on November 25th last year – during the third quarter of 2011-12 – the minister said ‘…year on year, at the end of the year, they [local health boards] have always had to be bailed out. I have had to spell out very clearly that they must come in on financial target this year’.
Either at the time of this statement – or very shortly after it – officials were already working on a bailout, which was not revealed until April this year.
The ‘contingency fund’ was set at 12.5 million pounds.
The eventual bailout cost 12.4 million pounds.
Leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Assembly, Andrew RT Davies AM, obtained the information. He said:
“It’s quite clear that ministers had known a bailout would be needed for months.
“The figures suggest they were well aware of almost exactly how much would be required – yet there was absolutely no mention of this from either the first minister or his health chief.
“Even when the bailout was revealed they attempted to hide it in the small print of a misleading press release.
“Yet again, openness and transparency have been sadly misplaced.”
Shadow Minister for Health, Darren Millar AM, said:
“This secret bailout plan makes a mockery of the way NHS finances are centrally managed and communicated.
“It is astonishing that the idea had been in the works for months – almost to the exact amount required – yet no-one knew.
“Labour’s record-breaking health cuts of over half a billion pounds are putting immense strain on frontline services and the minister is doing everything she can to brush it under the carpet.
“I urge her to invest in health and support hard-working NHS staff.”
