By Marjory Inglis, health reporter

A CHARITY watchdog investigator has sought assurances that NHS Tayside will not use charity funds to buy “basic equipment” in future.

Tom Thorburn, a senior investigations officer with the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR), has completed his investigation into the use of hundreds of thousands of pounds of charity cash to buy nurses’ uniforms.

It emerged for the first time yesterday that the decision was taken by just two people and Mr Thorburn has also sought assurances that business involving “major expenditure of charity funds would normally be decided after due consideration by a substantial number of trustees.”

In a letter made available to The Courier yesterday he concluded that the NHS Tayside Endowment Fund, the hospital charity, had responded in “a positive manner” and it was not in the public interest for the inquiry to continue.

But a Tayside health boss last night expressed “surprise and concern” at the contents of the letter from Mr Thorburn.

NHS Tayside chief executive Professor Tony Wells believed that a letter issued by OSCR last month completely exonerated charity trustees and the matter was closed.

Professor Wells is now seeking “urgent clarification” from OSCR in the light of the latest letter.

Mr Thorburn visited charity trustees in Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, last October just hours after The Courier published a call for a top level investigation into the purchase of nurses’ uniforms with charity funds. The decision was taken behind closed doors.

The call came from Bill Stewart of Dunning in Perthshire, a former member of Tayside Health Board, who was concerned that cash raised by the public was being used to purchase nurses’ uniforms that would usually be covered by the mainstream NHS budget.

He backed The Courier campaign for more openness in the decisions taken about cash raised by members of the public. Meetings of the NHS Tayside Endowment Fund continue to be held in private.

Mr Stewart took a close interest in the progress of Mr Thorburn’s investigation and yesterday sent this newspaper a copy of a letter just received from Mr Thorburn.

Mr Thorburn has found that the decision of the charity trustees—to allocate £400,000 given by “benevolent donors” to buy replacement uniforms—was allowed under the rules of the charity fund at the time. However, he appears concerned to prevent any similar decision in future.

Mr Stewart was far from satisfied with the apparently contradictory content of the letter.

“Why would they be wanting assurances if everything that had been done was entirely in accord with the objectives of the charity,” said Mr Stewart.

He said there was never any question that anybody was “personally pocketing” cash from the charity funds and no one ever suggested that. He was concerned that decisions should be taken openly and the public should know exactly how the funds were being spent.

In light of the most recent letter, NHS Tayside was asked to comment.

“As we have previously stated OSCR wrote to us in December last year when they had completed their review and advised us that they were satisfied with our decision and they would be taking no further action,” said Prof Wells. “Therefore, I am surprised and concerned with the content of the letter Mr Stewart received and, as such, I will be seeking urgent clarification from OSCR.”