NHS Grampian has been underfunded by more than £262 million while services struggle to keep up with demand.
Funding allocation targets calculated to ensure resources are distributed fairly across the country show the region has been given less than it is due.
Meanwhile, the SNP has pumped funds into scandal-hit NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
According to the figures, services in Grampian received £262.1m less than they should have over the past 15 years.
Elsewhere, NHS Lothian was underfunded by more than £425m, Fife was shortchanged by nearly £112m and Forth Valley was down by nearly £106m.
Over the same period, bosses in Greater Glasgow and Clyde were handed a whopping £743m more than it was due.
How does the calculation work?
Health chiefs use the National Resource Allocation formula to calculate how NHS funding should be spread across the country based on the demand on services in each area.
The formula takes into account the local population, their age and sex, different life circumstances and the excess cost of delivering healthcare in remote areas.
North East Tory MSP Tess White, the party’s deputy health spokesperson, said: “We aren’t talking about one year, or two. Grampian, my local health board, has been underfunded by £260 million since the SNP got into power.
“People will wonder how such huge sums could have been used to help save lives and support struggling local services.”
The shortfall seen at many health boards has led, in part, to devastating cuts. The Scottish Government also announced a two-year freeze on any new capital funding.
Grampian is preparing to make “eyewatering” savings of more than £77 million in 2024-25 and faces an “unprecedented challenge”.
It follows well-documented pressures on Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, which has seen more than a dozen ambulances queuing outside on multiple occasions.
In 2014, Dr Roelf Dijkhuizen – who was at the time NHS Grampian’s medical director – claimed the health board had been shortchanged by £1 billion in government funding over the previous decade.
Government ‘dodging’ questions
Further concerns have been raised about the government appearing to “dodge” questions about the lack of parity with the formula until the figures were obtained through Freedom of Information legislation.
Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton wrote to the government in October last year asking for details of NHS Grampian’s target according to the formula, its actual funding allocation and distance from parity since 2016.
The answer from Michael Matheson, who was at the time health secretary, talked up additional funding given to boards but did not provide any of the requested information.
Mr Cole-Hamilton said: “It’s endlessly frustrating that the Scottish Government tries to dodge basic questions about NHS funding.”
What does the Scottish Government say?
The Scottish Government said it has invested a record £19.5 billion in health and social care for this year.
It added: “In 2024-25, we provided an additional £31.1m in funding for NRAC parity ensuring that all boards remain within 0.6% of parity, and since 2012-13 over £3.5 billion of additional funding has been committed to those NHS boards below their NRAC parity levels.
“We have committed to a review of the funding formula which supports vital work to reduce health inequalities; ensuring that we continue to allocate funding according to the relative need for healthcare in each board area and work on this is underway.”
Conversation