Ayrshire health and social care provider faces £10m overspend
Getty ImagesA health and social care partnership in Ayrshire is facing a financial overspend of over £10m.
East Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership said the situation was caused by several factors, including an increase in demand, ageing population and insufficient funding from the Scottish government.
However councillors reacted angrily to the news, raising concerns that they were presented with such a significant sum so late in the financial year and criticising a lack of transparency.
The £10.7m overspend is larger than the £9.13m overspend projected for all of East Ayrshire Council's services.
A quarterly update on council performance revealed the HSCP - a collaboration between NHS Ayrshire and Arran and East Ayrshire Council - had seen a projected overspend of £10.3m increase further to £10.7m.
Craig McArthur, the director of East Ayrshire HSCP, said that despite sustained efforts to control spending, underlying pressures – particularly in adult social care – had continued to grow.
It was reported that new and existing care packages now account for the majority of cost pressures, with demand alone responsible for more than half of the overspend.
Savings made through moves like management restructuring had been off-set by this rising demand.
Additional short-term savings were now being pursued in areas such as care-at-home services but many proposed savings will not take effect immediately.
An upcoming report will propose releasing between £6m and £6.5m from council balances, but further work will still be needed to secure further funding to balance the books.
Councillors across the chamber expressed frustration that the scale of the problem had not been made clear sooner.
Council leader Douglas Reid stressed every council service is required to balance its budget and said that health and social care cannot be an exception.
The situation was described as unacceptable, and the HSCP was warned it must not be allowed to happen again.
A formal review of financial planning and governance within the HSCP was also given the go-ahead.
