Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) reduced its annual overspend by £16.7 million last year.

According to the latest annual report it was also second best health board in Wales for the percentage of GP surgeries that achieved the National Access Standards for in-hours medical services.

The report stated 99 per cent of GPs met the required standard for high-quality care, timely access to services and fair access for all patients. Four years ago BCUHB was Wales’ worst performing board for GP access.

In the financial section of the report BCUHB reportedly overspent its 2.3 billion revenue budget for 2023/24 by £7.6m, a breach of its first financial duty to break even but an improvement on the previous year where it overspent by £24.3 million.

The figure was also £1m less than the additional spending figure approved by Welsh Government for BCUHB according to the report.

The report also highlighted significant infrastructure investment, including community-based health facilities in Bangor.

The report highlighted some challenges BCUHB need to address.

The number of patients waiting more than 12 hours in Emergency Departments rose by more than 4,000 over the year. The number who waited more than 24 hours increased by more than 4,000.

BCUHB made significant inroads to reduce the number of patients waiting two years or more for treatment, but still has work to do to reduce the number of those waiting 52 weeks or more – which rose by 10,550 over the last 12 months.

Chief executive Carol Shillabeer said: “We’re two years into an improvement journey and process.

“This report is a marker on where we are on that journey and where we will be at this time next year.

“We are improving our financial governance, that’s clear. There are signs we are improving organisational governance as a board and in a wider context as well.

“Twelve months from now hope we will see further improvements.”

Ms Shillabeer said the board will focus on areas where patients had yet to see improvements in care – such as waiting times, saying: “That continues to be our key focus, particularly around access to services and people waiting too long to receive care.”

BCUHB chairman Dyfed Edwards acknowledged the progress made to improve the board’s financial position, but agreed more work was needed to improve services too.

“We’ve done excellent work around governance and finances which is really important for how the organisation goes about our business,” he said.

“But most people don’t see that, or they only see it when something goes wrong.

“The building blocks are in place but we need to address issues around performance that the report highlights and much of that is about access to services.

“People are really impressed with the treatment they receive according to feedback we get and they are impressed with the kindness of our staff and services.

“But it’s actually getting the service in the first place, that is the huge challenge. Everything we do in the next 12 months we hope will address that.”