Concerns on overspending on elderly services in Highlands

A former social work chief has warned of a real financial risk to Highland Council after the region’s health board took over elderly care services.

Senior councillor Margaret Davidson has claimed NHS Highland is used to getting regular “feeds” from the Scottish Government so it can balance its multi-million pound budget.

The health board assumed responsibility of adult social care from the council last year, with responsibility for children services transferring the other way.

About 1,400 council staff are now employed by the NHS and 208 health workers went in the opposite direction.

In March, the council agreed to a one-off £1 million payment to the health board to go towards adult services, which came on top of a £575,000 payment in December.

NHS Highland had been facing a £2m budget overspend.

It also secured £1m in transitional funding from the government.

Councillor Davidson, the former chairman of the local authority’s housing and social work committee, said there were “two very different cultures” of financial management between the public sector organisations and claimed the NHS finances were “extremely opaque”.

“The NHS is used to getting budget feeds through the year,” she said.

“What we are doing on the other hand is managing a budget. This is a real financial risk to this council. We can’t every year find another £1 million.”

The opposition depute leader Jacqui Douglas echoed her calls.

“At what point do we find out this year if the NHS are starting to have an overspend on adult care?, said Councillor Douglas. “When does it get flagged up to us to make sure we don’t get to that crisis point again?,”

But NHS Highland’s board member Myra Duncan told the latest adult and children’s services committee in Inverness its budget was very closely monitored and there were checks in place for scrutiny.

Committee chairman, Councillor Alasdair Christie, also insisted there would be regular briefings and updates of the adult care budget.

But the council’s depute leader David Alston, who represents it on the NHS board, said councillors should be more concerned about monitoring the wider concerns about elderly care.

“The business of the budget and applying the scrutiny is to my mind the job of NHS Highland,” said councillor Alston.