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£60m fund to help NHS bodies in Wales cut costs

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21 May 2009

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NHS bodies in Wales will be able to apply for loans to improve their services and promote long-term efficiency savings as part of a £60m initiative.

Councils, health services and education institutions are being invited to submit proposals for the loans in an attempt to make services more efficient and deliver real benefits to the public.

Following spending cuts by the Treasury, it has become vital for public services to get better value for money and it is hoped the Making the Connections policy will stretch the money further.

As part of the policy councils are being encouraged to share office work, rubbish collection and jointly commission social and education services.

The interest-free Invest to Save fund will be available for two years to cover the initial set-up costs of new projects.

Finance minister Andrew Davies will tell the Wales Audit Office annual conference: “There are already a great many examples of innovative ways of working across public services in Wales, which not only add value and save money but also deliver good-quality services for the people involved.”

He hopes that public services will get together to think of new and exciting ways to deliver services to benefit the public while keeping costs low.

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