North Wales Health Board Still Funds Bangor Research Centre

The NHS health board for north Wales is still paying a university research centre, months after an internal report said the money was not directly benefiting patients.

Figures show Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board was due to pay Bangor University £110,686 this financial year. The money funds two researchers at the Centre for Mental Health and Society, which is part of the university but based in Wrexham, in offices owned by the health board.

What the internal report said

The report, written in January, said it was "unclear what services the health board are receiving and paying for, and how beneficial it is to the population of north Wales". It found that by September 2025 more than £4m of NHS money had been paid to the university. The board, it said, "cannot demonstrate that it has received value for money from the agreement".

The arrangement began in 2012 as a five-year contract. It was never reviewed and simply carried on.

Both the NHS and the university have looked at the agreement. They say there was no evidence of fraud or misconduct in how it was set up and has operated.

Watchdog and board respond

Llais, the health and social care watchdog, says those concerns are still not being acted on fast enough. Geoff Ryall-Harvey, its regional director for North Wales, said he had expected "a serious sit down" to look at what the money was buying and decide whether the agreement should continue. "It doesn't appear that's been done," he said. He added that NHS money is limited and that he would like to see what people in North Wales get for the £110,000.

The health board lists the centre's current research topics as students' experience in prison, mental health outcomes and opiate use in primary care.

Teresa Owen, the board's interim deputy chief executive, said research, development and innovation is "an important element of the work of university health boards". The board recognises the importance of good governance around research partnerships and is addressing the concerns raised in the internal audit review, she said. As part of that, it is commissioning an external review of its research function.

A Bangor University spokeswoman said the centre focuses on research with a direct application to improving the mental wellbeing of the general population or mental health care. The university remains committed to working constructively with the health board and will take part in any review if asked.

Source: BBC News