Health Board deficit

According to the Stornoway Gazette, and as I predicted:

Western Isles Health Board has suffered further losses as it was forced to throw out its deficit recovery plan today (Thursday).

Aiming to recover £800,000 from the £2,484million debt over the last year, the Health Board have instead predicted that by the end of 2007 they will have lost a further £243,000, throwing them a whopping million pounds off their "far too optimistic" savings plan leading to an accumulated deficit of £3.363million.

It is expected that the Board will be told that it must reign in expenditure in two main areas; the use of medical locums and prescribing and that in a revised plan for 2007/8 it must at least aim to break even in a bid to plug the financial drain.

And the result of this is going to be the loss of control of the service to Highland Health Board.