NHS Orkney must find £1.4 million in savings

NHS Orkney is being forced to cut a further £1.4 million from its budget over the next year, leading to calls for resources to be targeted at protecting frontline staff.

Across Scotland, health boards are being asked to cut their budgets by an average of 2.9 per cent. However, the cut in Orkney is equivalent to 4.3 per cent of the board’s budget — higher than the national average.

An independent report from Dr Andrew Walker from the University of Glasgow states that NHS Orkney will no longer be able to fund an increase in chaplain services to full time from existing part time arrangements, further increases in roll out of telehealth or an extension of ultrasound services to 24/7 rather than on-call arrangements for out-of-hours.

A financial report for 2012-2017 is due to come before Orkney health board members on Thursday, which confirms that a £1.418 million recurring efficiency and productivity target is required to deliver a recurring balance during the year ahead.