The Scottish Government has come to the financial aid of NHS Highland by funding its overspend last year to the tune of £18m.
In the year 2018/19 NHS Highland overspent against budget by £17.9m, so after balancing the books the health board finds itself with a £100,000 surplus.
The overspends mainly came from unachieved savings of £2.4m; £2.2m in drugs, predominantly in Raigmore oncology; £1.7m in adult social care, and the continued use of locums.
Overall the Health and Social Care partnership overspent by £15m compared to estimates of £19m.
In Argyll and Bute the overspend was £3.6m.
In 2017/18, NHS Highland asked for a £15 million bail out from the government.
It had run up overspends of £9.2 million for acute services in Raigmore, £6 million for adult social care services, £2.8 million for prescribing drugs at a higher cost, and an extra £3.6 million for medical pay to meet the rising costs of locums.
An Audit Scotland report last year said NHS Highland faces ‘significant financial challenges.’
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Meanwhile, NHS Highland board members approved a draft budget offer to Argyll and Bute of £217.3m for this financial year.
The figure represents 28.87% of the overall baseline budget for Highland of £627.5m.
It also includes an estimate of additional allocations including potential additional resources to cover changes in government pay policy.
David Garden, NHS Highland interim director of finance, said the total is likely to be subject to change and will be updated as these amounts are confirmed.
He said: “The allocation was £206m last year and the increase this year is in line with our own.”