Health board ends year with £26m overspend

A FINANCIAL black hole of more than £26m is being faced by the health board managing Wales’ biggest hospital – and its long-term overspend is almost double that figure.

Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, which manages University Hospital of Wales in the capital and other hospitals in the region, ended the 2017-18 financial year with an overspend of £26.8m.

That left the health board with an underlying long-term deficit of £49m – which it says it expects to reduce to £39m by making savings in the next financial year.

The health board says it plans to improve its financial position by reducing procurement costs, reducing the amount spent on temporary staff and making services as efficient as possible.

This year, the health board plans to reduce its overspend to £19.9m, and take £10m off its underlying deficit.

Health boards in Wales and the UK are facing similar financial pressures.

Abertawe Bro Morgannwg, Betsi Cadwaladr, Cardiff and Vale and Hywel Dda health boards overspent by a combined total of £163m in the last financial year.

And NHS trusts in England overspent by a combined £960m – double the amount planned – during the same period.

Cardiff and Vale health board’s overspend at the start of 2017-18 was expected to be £30.9m, but this was revised down to £26.9m.

A spokeswoman for the health board said: “In 2017-18 Cardiff and Vale University Health Board ended the financial year with a £26.8m planned deficit. The underlying recurrent deficit at the end of the financial year 2017-18 was £49m.

“The Cardiff and Vale University Health Board has plans in 2018-19 to improve last year’s out-turn from a £26.8m deficit to £19.9m deficit and improve the underlying recurrent deficit to £39m as a minimum.

“Plans to deliver the financial plan in 2018-19 include reduced costs in procurement, focus on variable pay, minimise the cost of using locums and delivering services as efficiently as possible.”