North Wales patients are being sent to private clinics to help cut NHS waiting lists.

Figures revealed through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request show Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) spent around £14 million in three years paying for NHS treatments at private facilities.

The figures don’t include patients sent over to England and elsewhere in Wales.

According to data, the total amount spent on private outsourcing dropped dramatically over the last three years.

In 2022/23, the health board paid £8.48m for 5,656 treatments, dropping to £4.50m for 3,132 treatments the following year in 2023/24.

This figure then fell to just over £1m for 1,000 treatments in 2024/25.

Eye care made up the majority of private outsourcing.

In 2022/23, eye clinics (ophthalmology) handled 4,445 treatments costing £4.92m; this dropped to 1,699 procedures in 2023/24 at a cost of around £1.88m, dropping again to 1,000 procedures in 2024/25 at a cost of just over £1m.

Skin treatments (dermatology) went from 565 treatments in 2022/23, costing £148K, to 1,183 the next year, costing £280,000, but dropped to zero in 2024/25.

Orthopaedics (bone and joint procedures) cost £3.41m for 646 treatments in 2022/23 and £2.34m for 250 treatments the year after but also stopped in 2024/25.

Responding to the FOI, the health board said: “We do not pay for private treatment of patients – all payments made are for NHS treatment. However, we do contract with private providers to provide NHS activity.”

BCUHB said it was not possible to provide information regarding patients being sent to England or elsewhere in Wales, adding: “We would have to carry out a specific exercise to collate this data by conducting a manual case note trawl of over 33,000 inpatient admissions.”