Shona Robison agrees to publish finances of NHS boards monthly

Health secretary Shona Robison has agreed to publish the finances of NHS boards on a monthly basis

Health Secretary Shona Robison has agreed to publish the finances of NHS boards monthly under pressure from the Scottish Conservatives.

Ms Robison said the move would provide “greater transparency and accountability” following a financial crisis at NHS Tayside.

It was revealed earlier this year the health board had used endowment funding to cover general running costs.

Ms Robison reassured MSPs that returns submitted by other boards had revealed no cause for concern.

The Tories used a debate at Holyrood today to call for the government to publish full details of NHS boards’ finances and provide regular updates.

The party’s health spokesman Miles Briggs warned there were also “growing concerns” about the financial accountability and reporting of the joint boards overseeing the integration of health and social care in Scotland.

Ms Robison said she had agreed to review the progress of the integration authorities and had committed to publishing a medium-term financial framework for the health service in coming weeks.

Monthly information on NHS boards’ financial performance for 2018/19 would also be available from June, she said.

“I hope that Miles Briggs and others agree that what has been set out is a reasonable proposal to address the concerns set out in the motion and provide greater transparency and accountability to this Parliament,” she said.

On the misuse of endowment funds, Ms Robison said returns submitted by all boards had been passed to the Office of the Scottish Charities Regulator (OSCR) for review.

“I can confirm today that there was nothing in the responses that is a cause for concern and no boards are showing retrospective use of endowment funds in order to improve their financial position as happened in Tayside,” she added.