Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
NHS boss in bailout bid
Tayside chief will ask for more cash to fill black hole
NHS Tayside has given chief executive Lesley McLay permission to ask for further financial support from the Scottish Government.
The health service is reeling from the fallout of a damaging new report, which found £5.3 million of funds were inappropriately used to artificially bolster its financial position.
Previously conservative estimates for the end of the financial year have also been adjusted, meaning the estimated £5m overspend has now rocketed to £12.1m.
Ms McLay will now negotiate with ministers to raise the level of brokerage following a board meeting.
Professor John Connell, chairman of the health board, said there had been a “change in circumstances” that dictated the need for additional funding.
NHS Tayside already owes £33m in outstanding brokerage — essentially an interest-free loan — to the Scottish Government, built up over several years.
Last year, the board secured permission to delay repayments for three years in order to get a better grip on its spending.
The practice of hiding away the “earmarked” funds was carried out with the permission of finance director Lindsay Bedford, who was suspended on February 26.
Mr Bedford, who was given several “performance-related pay increases” during his tenure, has since retired — with NHS bosses claiming to have been in the dark.
Liam Kerr, North East MSP, who quizzed NHS health chiefs at yesterday’s public audit committee i n Holyrood, said: “Lesley McLay and Professor Connell have said they could not have found these financial irregularities, and a level of trust was in place for that reason. The brokerage that will be repaid will have its value reduced by inflation over the years.
“As this is public money we’re dealing with, there are questions which need to be answered.”
North East region MSP Bill Bowman said: “I would be keen to hear the former financial director’s testimony as to what was known, by whom, and when.”
Following Mr Bedford’s departure, Alan Gray, strategic financial lead for the NHS in the north of Scotland, took up interim duties as Tayside’s finance boss.
This is not a long term option, and another interim replacement is sought.