THE health board is set to receive a massive cash injection £13 million in funding to help slash waiting times.

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) is to be the single largest recipient of a new raft of £50 million in funding from the Welsh Government which seeks to build on the good progress made across Wales in the last three years.

At £13.6 million, BCUHB's allocation is almost double that of the next largest funding package of £7m for Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board - Which covers Bridgend and Merthyr Tydfil.

Welsh Government Health Minister, Vaughan Gething said: “Over the last three years we have invested £150m to significantly cut waiting times for patients waiting beyond our target. As of March this year, three health boards reported no one waiting over 36 weeks and overall we’ve seen the best position in some areas for six years.

"Health boards will need to meet the targets they set out in order to receive the full funding. I expect to see significant improvements on waiting times as we have in the last three years.”

At the end of 2018-19, improvements were seen in six of the seven health boards, with three health boards reporting no one waiting over 36 weeks at the end of March and two other health boards reporting a position better than their profile.

As of March 2019, the number of people nationwide waiting more than 26 weeks was the best position since July 2013, those waiting more than 36 weeks was the best since May 2013 and the number of people waiting more 14 weeks for therapy services was 98 percent lower than March 2018 - the best position ever reported.

This year’s allocation will also include funding for projects to support improvements in emergency departments and to support people to leave hospital and avoid readmission.

A spokesperson for BCUHB said: “Reducing the times people wait for treatment is one of our main priorities.

“We welcome this additional funding, which will help us to achieve improvements in our performance.

“We are determined to build on areas where we have improved, such as in Maternity and GP Out of Hours services, and will continue to work with our staff and partners to deliver the changes detailed in our plan for the next year and beyond.”

The spokesperson also confirmed that the health board improved its performance in waiting times of between 26 and 36 weeks as well as waiting times of more than 36 weeks in the period 2018/19.

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