// BBC HEALTH NEWS — SALUTE
Health board still paying for research despite criticism over patient benefit
The NHS in North Wales currently pays for two staff at this research centre run by Bangor University
A health board is continuing to pay money to a university research centre several months after a critical report which said the payments were not directly benefitting patients.
Figures show that the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board was due to pay Bangor University £110,686 this financial year to fund two researchers in the Centre for Mental Health and Society.
An internal NHS report, written in January, said "it is unclear what services the health board are receiving and paying for, and how beneficial it is to the population of north Wales".
The health board said it was addressing the concerns and looking at improvements in the way it works with universities and research institutions.
The agreement between the health board and Bangor University was set up as a five-year contract in 2012, but was not reviewed and allowed to continue.
The internal report said that by September 2025, over £4m of NHS money had been paid to the university, but "the health board cannot demonstrate that it has received value for money from the agreement".
The health and social care watchdog Llais said those concerns are still not being acted upon fast enough.
Geoff Ryall-Harvey, regional director for North Wales, said: "I would have expected a serious sit down and look at what was being bought with that money to decide whether the agreement should continue.
"NHS money is limited, and health boards have to get best value for money out of that - there is a procedure to make sure that research is relevant locally.