The head of the NHS in Scotland has defended health chiefs in Grampian for flying in a locum from India to cover staff shortages in casualty.
Last month, the board spent more than £5,000 on bringing the hospital consultant from India to cover two weekend shifts in accident and emergency at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
He was paid £65 an hour – or £3,120 – for his services and his travel expenses were also covered.
Scotland Patients Association earlier described the move as “ridiculous”.
But Paul Gray, chief executive of NHS Scotland, said the arrangements had been made as part of “contingency” planning.
He said: “That was part of contingency planning and I would have been a lot more worried if NHS Grampian had not had a contingency plan.
“If a consultant was brought in from another board in Scotland, the payment would not have been that different.
“What they got was an experienced consultant.”
It is known that the locum regularly worked with NHS Grampian and spent large spells of his working life at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
Mr Gray added: “I am quite sure that NHS Grampian want to reflect on what happened when looking at such an issue with rotas in the future.”
NHS Grampian said at the time that locums were not normally reimbursed for travel but that payment was made in this case due to the last minute arrangements of the cover.
There are currently five consultant vacancies in A&E at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
Around £2.1million is to be spent reconfiguring casualty so that people with less serious conditions are discharged more quickly.
More elderly patients will have more of their treatment in the home.
Meanwhile, patients who are acutely ill will be assigned one consultant for round-the-clock care with their work backed up by other specialists.
A spokeswoman for NHS Grampian said there was no further comment to make on the locum who had travelled from India.