NHS Ayrshire & Arran deficit doubles to £56m as cost of paper towels, pay deals and medicine mounts

dailyrecord.co.uk:

NHS Ayrshire and Arran’s financial deficit will more than double to £56m over the coming year.Pay deals, medicines and even the cost of paper towels have put significant pressure on the health service’s budget.But just £9m in cuts and savings have been identified ahead of the budget meeting on Tuesday.

However, little detail has been revealed.Funding from Scottish Government increased from £833m last year to £850m in 2023/24.The service has already spent £26m more than it brought in during 2022/23.In his report to the health board this week, NHS Ayrshire & Arran finance chief Derek Lindsay said that it would now have to find £33m simply to avoid worsening the existing deficit.The main financial pressures include:The service also faces having to pay out £6.1m on 165 unfunded hospital beds put in place as a response to covid, although it aims to close the majority of these by June.Mr Lindsay states: “During the pandemic many additional services were introduced.

The only ones they will support in 2023/24 and beyond are the vaccination programme, test and protect and PPE.”Despite this, the board will decide on recommendations to maintain other covid programmes that will not receive funding – namely £822k on cleaning enhancements and £1m on a scheme related to acute respiratory issues.The board will hear about plans to allocate more of NHS Ayrshire & Arran’s budget to primary care, the new medicines fund, and the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS).Inflation has hit every part of the health service.

While 98 percent of gas and electricity was bought in advance to protect against continued inflation, it will still cost an additional £2.4m.There have also been significant rises in infrastructure maintenance