Press release: Financial pressures on NHS boards will continue into 2006

04 Feb 2005

Responding to the Health Minister's announcement of an allocation of £6 Billion to NHS boards, Scottish NHS Confederation Director, Hilary Robertson said: "We welcome today's announcement and the Minister's acknowledgement of the huge contribution made by community services, where the vast majority of care is delivered.  NHS boards are anxious to pursue and deliver service redesign and improvement in this area; however, competing financial demands will continue to be placed upon them during 2005/6 and beyond, from pay modernisation to increased prescribing costs.  An estimated 60% of NHS boards' uptake in 2005/06 is likely to be spent on pay alone.  In addition to pay modernisation programmes such as Agenda for Change, boards will have to contend with the financial impact of the Modernising Medical Careers programme, for example.  The impact of this in the short to medium term could be similar to that of the European Working Time Directive, as boards have to find additional trained medical staff to carry out tasks that would previously have been done by doctors in training."

Ms Robertson concluded: "It is vital that, as well as having sufficient resources to implement centrally-determined national programmes which bring unavoidable financial commitments, NHS boards are also left with enough financial scope and flexibility to focus on developing the services the Minister has outlined."

Ends

Notes for editors

1. The Scottish NHS Confederation is an independent membership body representing the majority of Scotland's NHS boards and special health boards.  We are committed to improving health policy and practice.
2. Modernising Medical Careers is the programme of reform of postgraduate medical education and training.   It will result in the majority of care being delivered by trained doctors while hospital doctors in training are primarily engaged in tasks which develop their learning, allowing a reduction in their training time. 

Contact details

For further information contact:  Donald Crichton on 07775582123 or Susan Aitken on 07813346587.

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