EXTRA funding of £27million will help place Hywel Dda health board on a 'sound footing' for the future, the health minister has announced.

The news follows a review into how factors such as demographics, scale, remoteness and efficiency affect the board's spending.

Working with the health board and the Welsh Government, consultancy firm Deloitte used these filters to compare Hywel Dda’s spending with the Welsh average.

Hywel Dda’s elderly population is more than 15 per cent higher than the Welsh average, which the health board says puts it at a disadvantage compared to other boards.

The report found that two areas - demographics and scale - did generate unavoidable excess costs for the board.

But it found remoteness and efficiency were not responsible for excess costs, and the analysis did not support the suggestion of a relationship between the region’s remoteness and higher staff costs.

In a statement, health secretary Vaughan Gething said: “The review partially confirms the view that Hywel Dda faces a unique set of healthcare challenges that have contributed to the consistent deficits incurred by the board and its predecessor organisations.


“In response to these findings I have approved the release of £27 million additional recurrent funding to the health board.

“This places the health board on a fair funding basis compared to other health boards by funding the excess costs identified in the review and provides a sound footing for the board to develop and transform services.”

Mr Gething said he now expected Hywel Dda to “focus on the costs that the review indicate were within their control to manage and deliver on the efficiencies that it identified”.

Responding to the announcement of additional funding, Conservative Shadow Health Secretary, Angela Burns AM, said: “Whilst this is a welcome investment, the Welsh Government must work closely with Hywel Dda to ensure this funding is able to drive forward long term improvements in the way services are delivered and not just used to plug the health board’s £70million overspend.

“Welsh Government’s wilful refusal to recognise Hywel Dda’s social demographics over the past few years has left the health board’s finance in a shocking state and with question marks still remaining over the future of key services, this is only a very small step in ensuring there is effective and sustainable healthcare for people in the region.”

To view the full report, click here.