Assembly Member for Wrexham Lesley Griffiths has backed new legislation that could enable NHS Wales organisations greater financial flexibility.
The NHS Finance (Wales) Bill was introduced to the National Assembly for Wales this week (1 October) and will change the statutory requirements for Local Health Boards (LHBs) to balance their books over a one year period to a rolling three year cycle.
If approved, the new system would come into force by April 2014 and enable the LHBs who run hospitals in Wales the flexibility to achieve prudent long term decisions.
The current annual financial system encourages short term decision making but the new bill would help the NHS focus its service planning, workforce and financial decisions over a longer and more sustained period.
The Welsh Government also announced it will monitor and scrutinise the LHBs plans regularly to ensure decisions on services and resourcing are not deferred to the second or third year of the cycle.
Commenting, Wrexham AM Lesley Griffiths said:
“The NHS Finance (Wales) Bill will enable Local Health Boards far greater flexibility, providing managers with the opportunity to plan long term and more coherently.”
“By offering LHBs a chance to implement improved service delivery, quality and care within the NHS, the legislation ultimately aims to benefit patients across Wales.”
