£23m funding gap written off
Lochaber MP Ian Blackford has warmly welcomed news this week that NHS Highland will have its debt written off by the Scottish Government and has been given three years in which to balance the books.
This comes following warnings from Audit Scotland that it has ‘serious reservations’ about the financial management of NHS Highland after it was confirmed that the health board faced a funding gap in the region of £19 million to £23 million in this financial year.
In a statement to the Scottish Parliament, Health Secretary Jeane Freeman announced that NHS territorial boards will now be required to set out finance and improvement plans that break even over a three-year period. Currently plans are assessed over one year.
The decision has been welcomed by Mr Blackford as hugely significant.
He said: ‘The step to remove the legacy debt from NHS Highland is a fantastic gesture by a government that is clearly committed to deliver for people in the Highlands and Islands. It now presents a fantastic opportunity for the health board to press ahead with the delivery of the quality care which we already see day in, day out from the hard-working staff.
‘Delivery of health and social care has to be the bedrock of our society. I am utterly delighted that this step has been taken which will benefit patients, staff and management as we work towards making the Scottish health service the very best that it can be.’
If this condition is met, boards will be offered the flexibility to underspend or overspend by up to one per cent of budgets in any one year. In order to allow more funds to be spent on patient care, the Scottish Government will not seek to recoup ‘brokerage’ loans paid to territorial boards in the last five years. It is hoped that the new deal will give NHS Highland more flexibility to continue its delivery of quality care across the region.
However, Highlands and Islands MSP Edward Mountain was more hesitant and said that this debt writeoff is ‘not a long-term fix’.
‘While I welcome the Scottish Government’s plans to wipe the slate clean on NHS Highland’s overspending, questions still remain on the health board’s ability to manage its own finances,’ he said.
‘Audit Scotland, in their damning report on NHS Highland’s finances, concluded that the health board has historically found it difficult to achieve savings on a recurring basis.
‘Writing the debt off is not a long-term fix for our health services.
‘It only buys time for the senior management of NHS Highland but it does not guarantee that more services won’t be centralised and that therapies and drugs won’t be cut.’