The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 277 No 7429 p658
2 December 2006

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Audit committee scrutinises NHS Wales’s finances

Consideration of changes to the monitoring of the financial performance of local health boards has been recommended by the Welsh national assembly’s audit committee.

A report (PDF 640K) by the committee says that a number of LHBs are unlikely to be able to meet their statutory duty to achieve financial balance in every year. The committee recommends that the Welsh Assembly Government should consider whether annual monitoring of financial performance is still appropriate.

In addition, the audit committee expresses concern that some deficits in the Welsh health service are held by single LHBs, while some are shared with other LHBs.

Because of this, it suggests that LHB strategic change and efficiency plans should be subject to rigorous approval processes to make sure that it is clear who is responsible for meeting them and that their financial impact is properly allocated.