NHS Tayside to repay endowment fund cash

REFUND: More than £2m from public donations was used for running costs

NHS Tayside is to refund money from its endowment fund which was used to cover general running costs.

The health board used more than £2 million from its endowment fund – which is made up of donations from the public or bequests in wills – to cover running costs such as funding new technology, which could normally be funded from its core budget.

This was said to have happened when the board was faced with a funding deficit in 2013-14, with NHS Tayside forced to temporarily suspend its constitution to do so as the money was going to retrospectively fund projects already approved.

The revelations earlier this month prompted the resignation of NHS Tayside chairman Professor John Connell, with the Greater Glasgow health board boss John Brown now installed in the job on an interim basis.

The issue was discussed at an extraordinary board meeting yesterday.

Board members agreed to a proposal presented by Mr Brown and NHS Tayside chief executive Malcolm Wright to repay the endowment money which had been retrospectively applied to the programmes of work.

Mr Brown said: “For our staff and our patients, we believe this is the right thing to do.

“The decision made by the board today doesn’t pre-empt the findings of the formal inquiry into Tayside NHS endowment funds by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR).

“It does mean that we can move forward, start to rebuild confidence and ensure there are no distractions to continuing to do what we do best and that is making sure everyone in Tayside receives high-quality and effective care and treatment.”

Financial problems meant NHS Tayside had to be bailed out with Scottish Government loans totalling £37.5m between 2012-13 and 2017-18.

Health Secretary Shona Robison welcomed the announcement. She said: “Chief executive Malcolm Wright and chair John Brown have acted quickly to listen to the concerns of patients and staff.

“This move to make good on the historic use of endowment funds will allow the board to fully concentrate on the important task of increasing public confidence and ensuring long term financial stability. I have authorised further brokerage to NHS Tayside, subject to confirmation of the value, to allow this to happen.

“NHS Scotland endowment funds operate within legal frameworks regulated by the OSCR and we expect trustees to comply fully with the legislation.

“In addition to writing to all boards asking them to provide assurances that endowment funds are being used appropriately, OSCR has agreed to review the evidence provided.

“Should OSCR determine that spending of endowment funds by any board was inappropriate, I would expect it to be paid back swiftly and in full.”

This move to make good on the historic use of endowment funds will allow the board to fully concentrate on the important task of increasing public confidence

The announcement that NHS Tayside is to refund the money it took from its endowment fund to cover general running costs is a welcome step in this whole sorry saga – but also the least that it could do.

Some might question why it has taken a week since the irregularities came to light for the pledge to be made, although perhaps it is a sign of the scale of the challenges facing the embattled board that it is only getting round to it now.

NHS Tayside’s financial difficulties have rarely been far from the headlines recently, but the idea that a health board could take more than £2 million from an endowment fund – made up of donations from the public or bequests in wills – to plug gaps in its own budget must have come as a sickening blow to those who have given money in good faith over the years.

Yesterday’s decision, made at the suggestion of interim chairman John Brown and NHS Tayside chief executive Malcolm Wright, does not pre-empt the findings of a formal inquiry by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR), and there will be many more difficult decisions to be made as the board attempts to return to a firm financial footing.

But in announcing it, Mr Brown said it was a chance to move forward and start to rebuild public confidence.

Let us hope that he is right and that this small step will finally take the board on to a more positive path.

Picture: Mhairi Edwards. Health Secretary Shona Robison held a board meeting at Ninewells yesterday which included interim chairman John Brown, left, and new NHS Tayside chief executive Malcolm Wright.