The director of the Royal College of Nursing Scotland said that it was “deeply worrying” that the boards needed extra funding.
Theresa Fyffe added: “This highlights once again the need for new thinking and changes in how services are provided in our NHS if it is to be sustainable into the future.
“Both NHS Highland and NHS Orkney have relied heavily on agency staff, particularly locum doctors, to fill vacant medical posts, rather than looking at different ways of providing health and care services to their local populations.
“Indeed, in NHS Highland, we offered to support the board to develop new models of care, based on doctors and nurses working together in teams.
“Nurses can be part of the solution and we would therefore encourage NHS Highland to look again at these models, particularly those adopted by other health boards in remote and rural areas.
“Similarly, in Orkney, we believe the board should look at innovative team models, given the challenges associated with providing health services on our islands.”
