Bosses of NHS Highland face a public grilling over their financial management of the health board.
Four senior members of the health board will give evidence to the Public Audit Committee after the auditors said there was weakness in their financial management in 2013/14. And in November, the audit committee accused NHS Highland bosses of “gross misconduct” over their handling of the authority’s finances.
Massive overspends at the north’s flagship hospital, Raigmore in Inverness, were a major factor in NHS Highland requiring a £2.5million loan from the Scottish Government so that it could break even.
The meeting will start at 9.30am on Monday February 2, the council’s HQ at Glenurquhart Road.
Those giving evidence include chairman Garry Coutts, chief executive Elaine Mead, director of finance Nick Kenton and chief internal auditor Chris Brown.
Ms Mead and Mr Kenton were also said to have treated board members “like mushrooms” by keeping them in the dark about the need for a bailout until the last minute.
NHS Highland board members said they were “outraged” at the criticism, and Mr Coutts called the committee’s claims “completely and utterly unfounded”.
Public audit committee convener Paul Martin MSP said: “The Scottish Parliament’s Public Audit Committee holds to account the people trusted with spending public money on public services. It is important we hold our meeting in Inverness as we know the local community has been concerned about the financial issues of NHS Highland and would want the opportunity to hear what NHS Highland has to say.
“We’ve already heard from others about what they think happened. This meeting gives us all the opportunity to hear from those responsible at NHS Highland about what caused the problems. It is a chance for all to look back and hear from NHS Highland on what lessons they have learnt from this report as well as what steps they have taken to improve their financial management in 2014/15.”
Members of the public can book a ticket from Monday by contacting the Scottish Parliament’s visitor services team in advance on 0800 092 7600 or 0131 348 5200 or by e-mailing sp.bookings@scottish.parliament.uk
A limited number of tickets will be available on the day on a first-come first-served basis.
There will not be video stream of the meeting online, however an official report of the meeting will be drawn up.