Jack McConnell said health chiefs had enjoyed some successes

First Minister Jack McConnell said no options had been ruled out in the case of the NHS Argyll and Clyde board.

Reports at the weekend said Health Minister Andy Kerr was seriously considering scrapping the body.

Four senior managers resigned in 2002 after a damning report by a Scottish Executive support team.

It found a culture of managerial and ficincial incompetence and said the health board was facing debts of up to �30m.

The Auditor General's report on the boards accounts for 2003-04 warned it could have a deficit of �100m by 2007-8.

At First Minister's Questions on Thursday, Duncan McNeil, Labour MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, asked if "all options" needed to be considered to ensure safe and sustainable health services for the area.

'No leak'

Mr McConnell told him all health boards were expected to keep a sound financial footing.

"We are all aware of the significant financial difficulties experienced by NHS Argyll and Clyde and the minister for health has been consistently clear that no options will be ruled out in order to preserve safe, high quality and sustainable health care services for local people," he said.

Mr McNeill urged the first minister not to shirk from taking "the toughest action".

He suggested the board's accounts were in amess, that it had over the years pushed through a string of "ill thought out" reorganisation plans and that it had lost the trust of local people.

Mr McConnell said: "While there are clearly continuing problems in Argyll and Clyde, there have also been some successes over the years as well.

"I would be very keen that we would build on the successes as well as tackle the difficulties."

He said Mr Kerr was looking at the structure of the health boards in the west of Scotland and would make a statement to parliament "in due course".

Stewart Maxwell, SNP MSP for West of Scotland region, referred to executive "leaks" about the fate of the board.

He asked if the executive planned to write off the �100m debt and asked what knock-on effects scrapping the board would have on neighbouring areas, who would have to share its workload.

Mr McConnell replied: "One, there was no leak. Two, there have been no decisions. Three, every decision will be made to put patients first and not ideology."

'Considered decision'

But Annabel Goldie, Tory MSP for West of Scotland region, said: "Does the first minister accept that the patients in Argyll and Clyde haven't the remotest idea what the first minister is talking about?

"And that the time is now overdue for specific ministerial assurances to go to patients in that health board area as to what the Scottish Executive intends to do in relation to this board?"

Mr McConnell told her: "It is right and proper that a considered decision is made in this case, that it is made in the interests of patients - not structures, not ideology, but patients.

"It is also right and proper that that decision will be announced to parliament in due course as soon as it is made."