|
Half of IJBs dipping into reserves |
Related newsCollective bargaining promised for social care Bid to block IJB voting rights extension Councils warn of social care cuts ahead Health and care in the Scottish budget NHS boards told to collaborate as two regions Scotland’s third sector calls for health partnership MSPs’ ‘huge concerns’ over Scotland’s medicines system Insight: Care workers should not be commodities Insight: An unequal integration? Care staff still paid per minute despite pandemic Podcast: Councils play key role in health and care Councils justify paying themselves higher care rates 
|
|
|
||
|
||
|
Just under half of Scotland’s IJBs are planning to use their reserves to plug financial gaps.
Financial reporting documents released by the Scottish Government reveal a total of £36m will be shifted from savings pots by 14 IJBs by the end of this financial year in March.
Meanwhile NHS boards are also under pressure, with nine of 14 regional boards warning they will overspend their budgets.
The total overspend for IJBs in 2019/20 is predicted to be around £85m.
As of December last year, 25 IJBs said they would overshoot their budgets.
Around £41m of the £85m worth of projected cost pressures is due to the ‘non delivery of savings’.
The document states this gap is before ‘additional financial support from partners’ and the ‘further use of reserves’ is taken into account.
NHS boards will be expected to find £29m while local authorities will contribute £7m.
The report also indicates four IJBs owe their funding partners nearly £15m between them, with most repayments beginning at the end of this financial year.
One reason behind the funding gap is ‘planned reductions in services not materialising due to increased demand being experienced’.
Other issues include service delivery reforms taking longer than expected and increased activity in acute services.
|
