Susan Deacon: Series of demands

The money was earmarked by the Chancellor, Gordon Brown, in his Budget last year.

But its allocation comes with a strict government health warning attached.

Ms Deacon says hospital managers must ensure patients' needs remain the priority and is promising that good performance will mean appropriate cash investments.

The issues she wants to see tackled include:

• Improvements in patient waiting times;

• A reduction in bed-blocking, where patients are kept in hospitals because they have nowhere else to go;

• Better emergency planning.

The latter recommendation comes in response to the new year flu crisis when admissions in some areas were as much as 50% above normal.

A new central group of NHS experts will also be established to monitor how well managers do their work and the Scottish Executive is understood to be casting its net to find suitable members.

It is expected that some of the �60m will also go towards meeting financial targets.

Last year's estimated overspend was �38m, nearly a third of it taken up by Tayside Health Board.

More details of how the rest of the money is to be spent are expected to be announced by Ms Deacon later this week.