NHS Western Isles financial fiasco

Health board drags itself out of trouble

Published:

THE only good thing to be said about the financial fiasco at NHS Western Isles is that it now appears to be dragging itself out of trouble.

An extraordinary feature of the crisis within the board was that problems and weaknesses in its financial structure were raised “year after year” without being resolved.

And, even when a Scottish Executive department became aware of the problems, officials failed to grasp their significance or brief ministers adequately.

It might be a million miles away from the controversy of the Scottish Parliament building but these shortcomings might sound familiar.

On the opposite coastline of Scotland, Aberdeen City Council also dug a huge black hole for itself over its own finances until someone blew the whistle on how out of control they were.

The situation in the Western Isles has dealt another blow to public confidence along with the situation in Aberdeen. At least NHS Western Isles has turned the corner.

Perhaps more public officials and elected representatives should be exposed to the discipline of the private sector.

At the moment, it appears that whenever they see taxpayers’ money they want to burn it.