Part of 4. Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 3:50 pm on 31 January 2023.
Thanks very much. I would love to invest more in our capital estate, but unfortunately our funding from the UK Government, when it comes to capital budgets, has not increased, and that does make life very difficult for us. What I will say is that over the past 10 years Betsi has received £455 million in capital expenditure, which is about 14 per cent of the Welsh total. That includes about £170 million on Ysbyty Glan Clwyd; £20 million on neonatal in Ysbyty Glan Clwyd; in Ysbyty Gwynedd, £14 million for the emergency department; £5 million in Flint; £4 million in Blaenau Ffestiniog; and £5 million in Tywyn. I could go on and on. The point is, we are trying to do our best. You do have to prioritise in these difficult circumstances, but obviously there has been an increase in the backlog figures, because, as you say, of the age of many of those major and acute sites, which is why what we have asked is that the health board considers what they think the priorities should be, and then obviously we as a Government will make a judgment after that.