BETSI Cadwaladr University Health Board has been found to have overpaid one of its directors by more than £40,000 in the last financial year.

It is the second successive financial year in which the North Wales health board has made such an error, after Gaynor Thomason was paid the equivalent of a £469,500 annual salary as interim director of nursing and midwifery in 2022-23.

A report compiled by Adrian Crompton, auditor general for Wales, found that Betsi’s remuneration committee “retrospectively approved payments to an interim executive director that exceeded the maximum pay point of £170,919 for the role as set out by Welsh Government”.

In 2023-24, this unnamed director was paid £114,000, plus oncosts.

Mr Crompton wrote in his report: “The interim executive director was remunerated at a rate of pay which was equivalent to a fulltime annual salary of £292,236 (excluding oncosts) during their tenure.

“Welsh Government approval was not obtained, contrary to the requirements of the health board’s standing financial instructions.

“Therefore, I consider payment of £39,259.32 plus oncosts to be irregular, being the difference between the actual amount paid and the amount that would have been earned at the maximum payable for the relevant pay point.”

Mr Crompton’s report on the health board’s 2022-23 financial statements highlighted irregular payments of £105,648 plus oncosts to Ms Thomason.

The irregular payments that led to these audit qualifications arose due to governance deficiencies prior to Betsi being placed into special measures in February 2023.

Betsi’s new executive team subsequently identified these governance issues, and sought retrospective approval from Welsh Government to regularise the payments made.

Though, Welsh Government declined this request.

While Mr Crompton noted that Betsi is now “strengthening its controls and governance arrangements accordingly”, he found that it failed to meet its two statutory financial duties in 2023-24.

The first financial duty gives additional flexibility to health boards by allowing them to balance their income with their expenditure over a three-year rolling period.

But Betsi was found to have not managed its revenue expenditure within its resource allocation from 2021-22 to 2023-24, exceeding its cumulative revenue resource limit of £6,004.035 million by £23.669million.

The second duty requires health boards to prepare and have approved by Welsh ministers a rolling three-year integrated medium-term plan.

Carol Shilabeer, Betsi’s interim chief executive, said: “Whilst we have made some progress, the health board is aware of the deficiencies in internal controls that gave rise to the irregular payments as detailed in the Audit Wales Audit of Accounts Report for the health board.

“The health board is strengthening the controls and governance arrangements to ensure these issues identified are addressed and that the health board operates in accordance with the appropriate governance arrangements.”

The Audit Wales report is due to be discussed at an extraordinary meeting of the health board at Venue Cymru, Llandudno on Wednesday (July 10).