NHS Wales has £470m debt written-off to help Covid recovery

The Welsh Government has written-off £470m in historic debt owed by Welsh health boards to allow them to recover from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Health boards in Wales have built up deficits of more than £600m since 2014 and the Welsh Government has provided around £470m in cash support during that time.

Health Minister Vaughan Gething said: "This level of historic deficit is clearly a barrier to the NHS as it starts to plan for the term recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and it holds these health boards back from achieving financial balance.

"Until now, there has been an expectation NHS organisations would repay this deficit and the cash support. To do this, they would need to generate underspends. I have decided the £470m of cash support will not need to be repaid and when an organisation achieves its three-year break-even duty, it will not be required to repay any historic deficits.

"This will provide certainty to these organisations, helping them to focus on the immediate recovery from coronavirus, while also planning for the future and striving for financial balance.“