FORMER MP Adam Price has called for the Hywel Dda University Health Board to receive a “targeted intervention” from the Welsh Government.

Stopping short of calling for the Board to be placed into special measures, Mr Price, Plaid Cymru’s candidate for Carmarthen East and Dinewr at May’s National Assembly elections, said some of their performance levels “in a number of different specialities” had declined over the last year, prompting his call for further action from the Welsh Government.

In March 2014, the Welsh Government’s Minister for Health and Social Services launched the Joint Escalation and Intervention Arrangements.

Hywel Dda was notified last March that it had been escalated from tier one (routine arrangements) to tier two (enhanced monitoring).

Of the 10 health boards and NHS Trusts in Wales, five are currently on routine arrangements, four are on enhanced monitoring and one (Betsi Cadwaladr UHB) is in special measures.

Mr Price said that, with performance levels decreasing whilst the health board was already under an “enhanced monitoring” status, continued support for Hywel Dda was the right course of action.

Of patients who received treatment last November, 3,316 or 76 per cent waited less than 26 weeks. The Welsh Government target is for 95 per cent treated within that time.

This performance is a decline from 82.7 per cent one year earlier.  The health board has failed to reach the 95 per cent target for four years.

Despite entering an “enhanced monitoring” status Hywel Dda has seen the worst overall referral to treatment performance of all Welsh health boards for the last 10 consecutive months.

Mr Price stressed that his call was to better support hard-pressed health board staff and any criticism was aimed at decision-makers in government.  He said the Labour minister cannot wash his hands of responsibility.

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