Health bosses are facing a projected overspend of £3.86m it was revealed at a meeting of North Ayrshire Integration Joint Board (IJB).
The board is the constituted legal governing body of North Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership and is responsible for the strategic direction, effectiveness and efficiency of the partnership.
At the meeting, IJB head of service (mental health) Thelma Bowers and IJB chairperson Margaret Johnson revealed that health chiefs will need to re-think workforce models with finances in the red across a variety of services.
Margaret Johnson said: “Supplementary staffing is a problem – not just in the IJB but right across the country.”
Thelma Bowers added: “My observations are about the high rising cost of supplementary staffing and we have a significant challenge locally in out-of-area placements and in in-patient areas which has not overspent before the last couple of years.
“We need to re-think workforce models but also develop those complex care solutions in our communities as well as thinking out of area placements. That will be our big drive in 2024-25.”
The projected year-end overspend of £3.858m for 2023-24 is made up of overspending by a number of departments and services.
Relating to Arran, Integrated Island Services is projected to be £308,000 overspent. There is an overspend at Montrose House of £241,000 which relates to employee cost, supplies and cleaning costs and an under-recovery of charging income. There is also an overspend of £50,000 due to Band 6 nurses receiving back-dated recruitment and retention premium.
Arran medical services are projected to overspend by £32,000. District nursing is projected to overspend by £195,000 due to an overspend on bank nursing costs and supplies.
All of the overspent amounts are offset by departments and services which are underspending their budgets. This includes vacancy savings which total £1.702m.
While the overspending presents a problem, the IJB can also dig into council reserves to help balance the budget.
Montrose House care home in Brodick is expected to overspend £241,000 in the 2023-24 period. 01_B52Montrose01_23_Montrose_house_Brodick