Heads to roll at NHS Tayside after Shona Robison exercises ministerial control

Health secretary Shona Robison has called for the leadership of a beleaguered health board to go after an “apparent misuse of funds”.

NHS Tayside has been put on special measures after reports in the Herald that it used cash from a charitable trust inappropriately. The board denies the allegations.

But Robison has instructed NHS Scotland to "strengthen the leadership of NHS Tayside with immediate effect", and called on the chairman to stand down.

NHS Tayside has been operating with a significant funding gap and has relied on emergency loans from the Scottish Government. Holyrood’s Public Audit Committee has been investigating the board’s spending and an independent probe had also been launched.

Robison said she was intervening under the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978.

“It has become clear to me that the current structure of the Board cannot deliver the improvements required to return to a sustainable position, while continuing to deliver safe and effective services to patients,” she said.

“In particular, I have concerns about the overall management of the Board’s finances and the ability of leadership to carry through the change required to bring the Board back into financial balance.

“As such, I will be exercising Ministerial powers of intervention and moving NHS Tayside to the highest level of escalation and I have instructed the Chief Executive of NHS Scotland to strengthen the leadership of NHS Tayside with immediate effect.

“It is imperative that all Boards use charitable donations for the purposes of which they were given. At my request, the Chief Executive of NHS Scotland has written to every NHS Board Chair seeking assurance that endowment monies are being spent for the correct purposes.  We are also engaging directly with OSCR on this issue.”