NHS Orkney funding raises concerns

During a meeting of the Scottish Parliament’s Public Audit Committee this morning, Wednesday, Orkney MSP Liam McArthur raised concerns with the Auditor General, Caroline Gardner, about the level of under-funding of NHS Orkney.

Ms Gardner was appearing before the committee to answer questions about a critical report on NHS Orkney’s financial management, published last week.

In the report, the Auditor General highlighted the need for the Scottish Government to provide brokerage of £1m to allow NHS Orkney to break even in 2013/14.

It was acknowledged that many of the problems had arisen due to an inability to recruit to key clinical positions and the need, therefore, to rely on locum doctors and agency nursing staff.

Ms Gardner also made clear, however, that NHS Orkney is almost £5m below its ‘target funding allocation’.

Commenting on his exchange with the Auditor General at the Public Audit Committee, Mr McArthur said: “The Auditor General’s report does not make comfortable reading, but does shine a welcome light on the challenges facing the local health board in Orkney.

“The difficulties of recruiting, and the continued reliance on locum cover, are not new and are putting serious pressure on NHS Orkney’s budget.  In turn, this must have consequences for other services the board is or could be providing.

“The Auditor General, however, was also very clear that NHS Orkney is currently seriously underfunded.  She has estimated this shortfall to be around £4.8m.  In a health board the size of Orkney’s, that is a substantial hole to fill.

“Scottish Ministers have agreed to additional funding over the next two years, but much of this will go towards repaying brokerage debts from previous years.  As the Auditor General acknowledged today, urgent action is needed to make good the underfunding so that unnecessary and painful cuts do not need to be made to vital services.

“Given the pressures the board will face in the years ahead, NHS Orkney will need to continue focusing on where planned savings can be made.  However, in light of this report, Scottish Ministers must ensure that a difficult situation is not made significantly worse.”