The key focus of the work has been on the Health Board’s corporate arrangements for ensuring that resources are used efficiently, effectively, and economically, with a specific focus on Board transparency, cohesion, and effectiveness, corporate systems of assurance, corporate approach to planning, and corporate approach to financial management. We have not reviewed the Health Board’s operational arrangements as part of this work.

Given its financial and performance challenges, the Health Board needs a clear plan to set out how it will achieve financially sustainable service models. In general, Board and committee governance arrangements and the corporate arrangements for developing plans are reasonably effective. However, there is scope to provide clarity on both the impacts of actions set out in plans and actions taken to improve performance.