MSPs criticise health board’s poor budget management
POOR leadership and complacency over budget management contributed to the financial difficulties at a health board that needed a Scottish Government loan to break even last year, MSPs have found.
NHS Highland was given an extra £2.5 million in 2013/14 despite a £5m increase in its budget in 2012/13.
Holyrood’s Public Audit Committee said it was clear that without this brokerage there could have been seri- ous repercussions patients.
The committee heard from NHS Highland about the sequence of events that led to the request for extra funding for the first time in 11 years.
The most significant of these was overspending at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.
Its overspend rose from £600,000 in 2010/11 to £9.6m in 2013/14.
Committee convener Paul Martin said: “In
for 2013/14, for the first time in 11 years, NHS Highland requested a loan – brokerage – from the Scottish Govern- ment to enable it to break even against its revenue and capital budgets.
“Given this, we expected to find a robust and transparent system of checks and balances that showed exactly how that situation had developed, and how and why the decision to request brokerage was arrived at.
“Instead, the evidence from NHS Highland about when brokerage was agreed to and by whom was unclear and contradictory to an extent that we question how well-informed the board were and when they decided to seek brokerage.”
NHS Highland chairman Garry Coutts said: “We respect the role of the Public Audit Committee and accept the contents of its report.
“We welcomed the opportunity to give evidence to the committee and we believe we have fully co-operated.
“We have already acted to address the concerns the committee has raised and we are determined to ensure that our financial management and our governance practices are of the highest standards.”