Making the enhancements wanted to the troubled Betsi Cadwaladr well being board may take so long as a decade, its interim chairman has mentioned.

On Thursday, Dyfed Edwards mentioned that making the modifications required was “almost like creating a new health board”.

This would “probably” take 5 to 10 years, he instructed Senedd members.

The Welsh Conservatives mentioned this was an “extraordinary admission” whereas Plaid Cymru repeated its name for an inquiry into “what’s been going wrong at Betsi”.

Betsi Cadwaladr, Wales’ greatest well being organisation, has a workforce of 19,000 serving greater than 700,000 individuals throughout Anglesey, Gwynedd, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire and Wrexham.

It is receiving the very best degree of Welsh authorities assist after a succession of significant failings on affected person security, efficiency and governance, along with employees shortages and a collection of senior executives coming and going.

But Mr Edwards mentioned there was now “an opportunity for us to help almost reset the health board, not just refresh, but reset”.

“It’s almost like creating a new health board and, in that sense, it’s a great opportunity,” he instructed the Senedd’s Health and Social Care committee.

“It’s a huge challenge, but it’s an opportunity to say ‘this is what we want to achieve, this is what we want the health board to deliver for the people of the communities of our region'”.

The board was, Mr Edwards careworn, making certain there was “continuing improvement”, because the goal was to create “something much greater over the longer period”.

He added: “This is probably a five to 10 year task, isn’t it?”

Asked by the committee’s chair, Conservative MS Russell George, if that meant being in particular measures for as much as a decade, Mr Edwards mentioned that “probably wouldn’t be a healthy sign” however “I don’t have a problem with that”.

“If it means the government are going to give us that focus, that’s fine”.

Carol Shillabeer, who was appointed Betsi Cadwaladr’s new everlasting chief government earlier this month after serving in an interim position, appeared alongside Mr Edwards on the committee.

She was requested what extra quick success may appear like, over the subsequent six to 12 months.

“We’ll be more effective as an organisation, we’ll have more effective leadership and engagement, we’ll have more effective [and] clearer plans, we’ll be performing better [with] continuous improvement,” she mentioned.

“And we will be focusing on our learning, our development, our research, our training and investing in our staff.”

North Wales Conservative spokesman Darren Millar mentioned Mr Edwards had made an “extraordinary admission”, and that regardless of the “huge challenges” sufferers “cannot afford to wait up to another decade before they get the services they need”.

“The Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board already holds the record for being in special measures for longer than any organisation in the history of the NHS,” he mentioned.

“It is abundantly clear that the Welsh Labour government is failing people in north Wales and that their intervention arrangements aren’t working,” he mentioned.

Plaid Cymru chief Rhun ap Iorwerth mentioned his social gathering’s “long-standing call for an inquiry into what’s been going wrong at Betsi would help provide a blueprint for a better health service in north Wales”.

Posting on X, previously often called Twitter, he mentioned: “You must learn from past mistakes when preparing for the future.”