£ 67m black hole for NHS
Plea for Scottish Government financial bailout
NHS Ayrshire and Arran needs £ 67m in order to restore their performance levels back to where they were before the coronavirus outbreak.
The bombshell figure was revealed by the organisation’s finance chief Derek Lindsay during a grilling by a Scottish Parliamentary committee.
Mr Lindsay was one of two of the health board’s top brass who were in the spotlight last week, taking questions from the Scottish Parliament’s Health and Sport Committee.
He was joined at the virtual meeting by Hazel Borland, Interim Deputy Chief Executive/ Nurse Director of NHS Ayrshire and Arran. The pair were grilled for more than an hour during a pre- budget scrutiny meeting.
The virtual meeting focused on the impact of Covid- 19 on the health service in Ayrshire.
Throughout the country, performance levels at NHS Boards has dropped because a variety of key services had to be halted – while medical staff treated and cared for the victims of the pandemic.
The knock- on effect of the crisis has placed an extra burden on NHS resources.
When asked about funding requirements to help restore performance levels to pre- Covid settings, Mr Lindsay said: “We submitted a remobilisation plan to the Scottish Government which set out the additional costs that were identified. In total, the requirement that was identified was about £ 67m for the remainder of this ( financial) year.
“We have received assurances from the Scottish Government that the additional costs of Covid- 19 will be met.”
Ms Borland also confirmed that the organisation’s finances will show a deficit at the end of this financial year, adding: “We will not be in financial balance at the end of the year, I can definitely advise that.”
Ms Borland also told how the impact of Covid- 19 had been felt “right across the whole care system” but that the “remobilisation plan” had been implemented in order to kick- start and that a current focus was on their ‘ Test and Protect’ system.
She also revealed how there were 16,000 vulnerable people across the region shielding due to the pandemic and that a major focus was on “supporting their needs.”
Also under discussion was the validation of waiting lists, whereby clinicians now “review” those lists and prioritise the patients “with the highest clinical needs.”
Ms Borland said: “The validation of waiting lists has enabled our clinicians to drive that process and review the waiting lists and prioritise and look at their clinical needs.”
And she added: “We have also restarted approximately 87 services, enabling clinical teams to ensure that those with the highest clinical needs are seen first.
“It’s required a lot of time, effort and resources from our clinical teams but it’s the right thing to do.”