Health / Extra funding for NHS to address distant islands allowance shortfall
NHS Shetland is to receive an extra £1.3 million a year from the Scottish Government to help address a historic gap in funding regarding distant islands allowance (DIA).
This recurring funding has helped to reduce the financial deficit at NHS Shetland in 2024/25.
DIA is extra money given to public sector employees at organisations like the NHS and the council in Shetland, Orkney and the Western Isles on top of salaries to partly assist with travel costs to and from the mainland.
The government also describes it as a “lever that can encourage people to take up employment within those communities”.
For the NHS the annual payment per person for Shetland, pro rata, is £2,380, £1,587 for Orkney and £1,349 for the Western Isles.
At a meeting of the NHS Shetland board on Tuesday morning, chief executive Brian Chittick paid tribute to the hard work of staff in getting the funding uplift in place.
He said Orkney and the Western Isles will also stand to benefit.
Chittick said the increase in funding came after NHS Shetland took a different approach of “highlighting explicitly what our island nuances were” which cause financial issues.
Chairman Gary Robinson said he was pleased to see NHS Shetland was predicting a break-even position for 2024/25.
An update report on NHS Shetland’s strategic risk register, however, noted the increase comes against the backdrop of savings requirements set by the Scottish Government.
“Whilst this funding is welcome, and helps with addressing the underlying gap, the Scottish Government have also set a challenge for boards to achieve per cent efficiency savings over the next three years, which is roughly £6.9m for Shetland health board,” the report said.
“Achieving efficiency savings and the ability to recruit a sustainable workforce on NHS terms and conditions remains a challenge for the board to address.
“However, the board’s own plans are in line with requiring to achieve this target and in respect of 2025-2026 to 2027-2008 the board is submitting a balanced financial plan that has a breakeven outcome in all three years.”
Become a member of Shetland News
Shetland News is asking its readers to consider paying for membership to get additional perks:
- Removal of third-party ads;
- Bookmark posts to read later;
- Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
- Hide membership messages;
- Comments open for discussion.
If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please become a member of Shetland News by either making a single payment, or setting up a monthly, quarterly or yearly subscription.
Already a member? Sign in to hide this message.
