A NORTH Wales AM spoke of his concerns after an under-pressure health board spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on offices for senior managers. 

Plaid Cymru AM Llyr Gruffydd said Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board’s decision to spend £338,000 on the offices in St Asaph Business Park, which are expected to accommodate 57 staff members, shows a ‘lack of perspective’. 

The cost of the development included approximately £60,000 to adapt the existing air conditioning and a further £1,138 on two 50-inch TV screens that will be used to display live patient statistics and digital signage. 

Mr Gruffydd said: “These new offices are less than three miles from Ysbyty Glan Clwyd yet senior managers are being re-located from the hospital to private offices to ‘improve collaborative working and communication between directors’. 

“I’m sure frontline staff would rather see their bosses in hospitals and able to see for themselves the strain and stresses they’re under. 

“Spending all this additional money on offices for top directors - when the health board is facing a £30 million deficit this year and claims it can’t afford to spend money on doctors and nurses to keep some services going - sums up the lack of perspective that has developed at the highest level of management.” 

A spokesperson for Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board said: “Following the report by HIW/WAO, the Board was heavily criticised regarding the lack of cohesion in the way the Executive Directors work together. 

“The report recommended that urgent work was required to improve the effectiveness of the board and that executive and geographical site management must be ensured. 

“Following an extensive search, and in response to this report, the board has brought together the wider corporate team onto one accessible site in St Asaph. 

“This will ensure that Executive members can work more effectively together, spend less time travelling from one location to another and save money on travel costs. The offices vacated by the Executive team have been allocated to hospital staff.”