Sturgeon told to act over NHS Tayside ‘basket case’

First Minister urged to meet board mired in financial crisis

Nicola Sturgeon has faced demands to personally intervene in the deepening financial crisis at NHS Tayside.

Lindsay Bedford stepped down suddenly as Tayside’s finance director after bosses were told on Wednesday of the botched recording of £5.3 million worth of funding.

The latest bungle means the health board will not meet its target of posting a £4m deficit for 2017-18, meaning the size of the Scottish Government bailout will have to be even larger than feared.

Jenny Marra, the Labour MSP who is chairwoman of Holyrood’s public audit committee, said Tayside is relying yet again on multi-million-pound government loans, known as brokerage.

Speaking at First Minister’s Questions, Ms Marra said: “We know that the Scottish Government has ordered a swift forensic audit, but how much worse must this financial basket case get before the First Minister herself meets with the board at NHS Tayside to ensure that this mess does not affect patients and staff in Dundee?”

Ms Sturgeon said: “The very fact that the Scottish Government provides brokerage to ensure that the financial position in NHS Tayside remains stable is because our overriding priority is the protection of patient care and services.”

She confirmed Grant Thornton has launched a public review into the state of the board’s finances, which is expected to report back within a fortnight.

The First Minister said they will take action on the back of the independent report, adding: “In the meantime, yes we will provide additional brokerage to ensure that Tayside’s financial position remains stable because that is in the overriding interests of patients.”

The size of this year’s government bailout will now be even higher than the expected £4m, with health chiefs saying the sum will not be known until the publication of the external review.

Tayside already owes the government £33.2m in outstanding emergency loans. Repayment has been suspended.

The First Minister’s spokesman insisted there is “no blank-chequing involved” after he was asked whether there is a limit to how much brokerage the government is prepared to offer.

Lesley McLay, chief executive of NHS Tayside, said on Wednesday that they commissioned an internal review as soon as the issue came to light, which is separate to the independent report.