Loans, cancelled ops and senior staff resignations: The long, troubled history of NHS Tayside
2012/13
NHS Tayside receives a £2.2m “brokerage” loan from the Government.
2013/14
The same board receives another £2.9m in brokerage from the same source.
2014/15
The Government gives NHS Tayside another £14.2m in brokerage.
2015/16
NHS Tayside overspends by £10.3m on workforce costs, £4.7m on prescribing costs and £2.6m on clinical supplies. Another £5m in in brokerage funds is urgently required.
March 2017
Independent advisers appointed to help NHS Tayside meet its financial challenges.
October 2017
Audit Scotland says NHS Tayside is projecting a funding gap of £49.8 million in 2017/18. The board already has £33.2m of outstanding loans from the Government to repay.
October 2017
The same Audit Scotland report: “The board is facing an extremely challenging position which will make it difficult to achieve financial balance in the medium term.”
October 2017
BBC reports that NHS Tayside will suspend all planned, non-urgent operations for three weeks over the festive period.
April 2018
The Herald reveals that, in 2014, NHS Tayside bosses used their charity fund (money donated by the public) to bankroll a back-office computer system.
April 2018
Health Secretary Shona Robison calls for the chairman of NHS Tayside to quit and says the chief executive’s position is “untenable”. Prof John Connell resigns as chair and the CEO is replaced.
April 2018
Scottish Labour leader calls on Robison to quit over the problems at NHS Tayside. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon defends her.
June 2018
Robison quits the SNP Cabinet and is replaced by Jeane Freeman.
October 2018
Freeman announces that NHS brokerage debt will be written off. NHS Tayside’s debt is believed to be over £60m.
November 2018
The Herald on Sunday exclusively reports that NHS Tayside is planning to cut its 13,500 workforce by 10 per cent.