Betsi Cadwaladr and Hywel Dda health boards have again failed to stick to their budgets for 2018/19, the Auditor General has announced.

The two health boards are amongst four health boards alongside Cardiff and Vale and the former Abertawe Bro Morgannwg board, which is now known as Swansea Bay, which failed to break even over a three-year period.

That has prompted Auditor General Adrian Crompton to qualify his audit opinion on the accounts of the four boards.

Both Betsi Cadwaladr and Hywel Dda have faced a string of problems in meeting their budgets in recent years, although Mr Crompton said there had been an improvement in Hywel Dda’s finances.

However, he issued a dire warning about Betsi Cadwaladr after the health board’s finances worsened.

Mr Crompton said: “2018/19 has been a challenging year for NHS bodies in Wales and although it is encouraging that all health boards have continued to find savings, it is not acceptable that, three years after the NHS (Wales) Finances 2014 Act came fully into force, four health boards remain in breach of their legal responsibilities to live within their financial means.

“I’m hopeful that the three health boards which improved their deficit positions will continue on their paths towards financial sustainability.

“Nevertheless, I remain deeply concerned about Betsi Cadwaladr’s worsening financial situation and, as the Public Accounts Committee noted in its recent report, its ability to resolve its problems swiftly and come out of special measures.”

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