The Welsh Government spent an additional £1.1bn in the last financial year on tackling the coronavirus pandemic, it has been revealed.
The Wales Audit Office has published a new report analysing NHS Wales spending in 2020-21, an exceptional 12 months which saw the country face the biggest health crisis in a generation.
Key elements of the £1.1bn spend included field hospitals at £182m, personal protective equipment (PPE) at £171m, the 'Test Trace Protect' programme at £102m and the NHS staff bonus of £105m.
With the extra Covid-19 funding and other rises in core funding, the Welsh Government increased its revenue funding on health by £1.7bn compared to 2019-20. Once inflation is factored in, that translated to a 12.8% increase in real terms and equates to funding of £2,620 for every person in Wales for 2020-21.
Despite the higher funding there remained a significant overspend across NHS Wales. In total, for the 2020-21 financial year the NHS was £47.923m in the red which was an improvement on the £88.7m in 2019-20, £96m in 2018-19 and £167m in 2017-18.
Four health boards failed to meet their duty to break even over a three-year period, including Hywel Dda UHB, Swansea Bay UHB, Cardiff and Vale UHB and Betsi Cadwaladr UHB.
The report stated that Hywel Dda UHB and Swansea Bay UHB also failed to break even in the last financial year alone. While Hywel Dda UHB was seeing "an improving trend" in its financial position, the finances of Swansea Bay UHB have once again deteriorated.
The other two bodies failing to meet their financial duty to break even over three years - Cardiff and Vale UHB, and Betsi Cadwaladr UHB - were both described as making "significant financial progress" and broke even in the last financial year.
The other three health boards (Cwm Taf Morgannwg, Powys Teaching and Aneurin Bevan), three NHS trusts (Velindre, the Welsh Ambulance Service and Public Health Wales) and one special health authority (Health Education and Improvement Wales) all met their duties to break even.
Here is a glance at the annual budget surplus or deficits of each of Wales' NHS health boards:
Aneurin Bevan UHB
2020-21: £245,000 surplus
2019-20: £32,000 surplus
2018-19: £235,000 surplus
2017-18: £246,000 surplus
Betsi Cadwaladr UHB
2020-21: £490,000 surplus
2019-20: £38.7m deficit
2018-19: £41.3m deficit
2017-18: £38.8m deficit
Cardiff and Vale UHB
2020-21: £90,000 surplus
2019-20: £58,000 surplus
2018-19: £9.9m deficit
2017-18: £26.8m deficit
Cwm Taf Morgannwg UHB
2020-21: £88,000 surplus
2019-20: £883,000 surplus
2018-19: £16,000 surplus
2017-18: £23,000 surplus
Hywel Dda UHB
2020-21: £24.9m deficit
2019-20: £34.9m deficit
2018-19: £35.4m deficit
2017-18: £69.4m deficit
Powys Teaching
2020-21: £143,000 surplus
2019-20: £55,000 surplus
2018-19: £65,000 surplus
2017-18: £96,000 surplus
Swansea Bay UHB
2020-21: £24.3m deficit
2019-20: £16.3m deficit
2018-19: £9.9m deficit
2017-18: £32.4m deficit
Wales total (including other NHS trusts such as HEIW, Public Health Wales, Velindre and the Welsh Ambulance Service)
2020-21: £47.9m deficit
2019-20: £88.7m deficit
2018-19: £96m deficit
2017-18: £167m deficit
All these figures have been set out in a new data tool published today which can be accessed here.
Auditor General, Adrian Crompton said: "This has been an exceptional year and I want to pay tribute to the dedication of all NHS Wales staff – those on the frontline and those working behind the scenes to support the delivery of lifesaving services.
"Very considerable funding has been made available, largely to address the pressures created by Covid-19. Yet the financial position of the NHS remains extremely challenging as it continues to manage the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, shifts to recovery mode and responds to new cost and demand pressures.
"I intend to report in more detail on some of the big challenges facing public services in recovering from the pandemic as part of a series of ‘Picture of Public Services' reports in the autumn."
Ordinarily NHS bodies would be required to have approved plans in place for the next three-year period. This requirement was put on hold in 2020-21 and instead bodies planned on a quarterly basis in order to respond to the fast-moving environment of the pandemic.
As part of the NHS recovery, annual plans are required for 2021-22 and beyond that the NHS will be looking to move back to three-year planning.
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