A single body will take control in the area following the publication of a damning report which led to the resignation of four senior managers.

The report said the region was beset by infighting and highlighted a financial shortfall of up to �30m.

There are thousands of dedicated and professional health service staff in Argyll and Clyde all keen to continue to do a good job Malcolm Chisholm Health Minister

The chief executives of the board and the area's three trusts all stepped down following its publication.

The men who quit were Neil McConachie of Argyll and Clyde NHS Trust; David Sillito of Argyll and Clyde Acute Hospitals; Michael Bews of Lomond and Argyll Primary Care; and George Buchanan of Renfrewshire and Inverclyde Primary Care.

A new interim management team has been installed in an attempt to restore confidence in NHS Argyll and Clyde, which serves a population of more than 420,000.

It will run services in the region until a new single-tier management structure is put in place.

The interim team will also operate under a single system, replacing the one NHS board and three trusts which have served the area until now.

John Mullin, the chairman of NHS Argyll and Clyde, told a press conference in Paisley that he believed the changes would help re-establish the confidence of public, patients and staff.

"A single system in Argyll and Clyde will give us one organisation, one culture and one common set of rules," he said.

Pressing issues

"This is a new beginning and we will do our utmost to shape and develop future services and quickly get them back into shape.

"We have immediate and pressing issues that we have got to resolve and it's important that we look to the future and together map out the way ahead."

Interim management team member Neil Campbell, the chief executive of Grampian NHS Board, said there were three main challenges.

We have the opportunity to do things differently, in a way we might have considered doing in the past Neil Campbell

He said a review should be carried out into the way services were provided to ensure they were stabilised as soon as possible.

Services needed to be reorganised and a new framework set up to enable medical staff to be at the centre of any decisions being made, he said.

And a recovery plan had to be put together to drastically reduce financial pressures, he added.

Mr Campbell said: "Over the coming months it is important we demonstrate a unified system that works together.

"We have the opportunity to do things differently, in a way we might have considered doing in the past."

Health Minister Malcolm Chisholm welcomed Tuesday's announcement.

Maternity closure

"There are thousands of dedicated and professional health service staff in Argyll and Clyde all keen to continue to do a good job for their patients and the public generally and to develop better services and improve quality of care," he said.

"Their interim management team will help ensure this commitment and enthusiasm is harnessed for the benefit of everyone by ensuring resources are planned and deployed effectively and sustainably."

Mr Chisholm had ordered a support team to investigate the relationship between the board and the three NHS trusts in the area following concerns about the way health services were being run.