Angus Council’s finance spokesman has said a close eye needs to be kept on costs associated with the area’s health and social care integration joint board after forecasts it is heading for a £2.6 million overspend this year.
And the area’s continuing struggle with keeping prescribing costs in check — which put it at the top of a spending national league table a year ago — is continuing to hit the budget.
One-off costs associated with initiatives centred around projects to help people live longer in their own homes have also been highlighted as a major contributor to the potential seven-figure black hole, prompting a spending warning from Angus administration finance spokesman and council depute leader Angus Macmillan Douglas.
He outlined the bleak position as members considered an IJB monitoring report on the projected year-end position.
The boards came into place as a result of 2014 changes which required health boards and local authorities to integrate health and social care services with the aim of ensuring better co-ordination of services for patients and other users.
IJB chief finance officer Alexander Berry, in the report, said there were a number of areas of Angus provision which have come under pressure during the year.
Community nursing continues to show what was described as a long-term overspend and the devolved budget for adult services is heading towards a projected overspend of more than £750,000, but officials say the IJB will seek to “manage down” that figure during the remainder of the financial year.
The report added: “Considerable work continues at both a Tayside and local level regarding prescribing.
“Currently the IJB is monitoring progress against both individual initiatives and against the overall prescribing position.”
A year ago, Angus was revealed to be at the top of Scotland’s cost league for the amount spent on prescribing medication.
The report added: “Despite the work undertaken to date, much of it built on developing long-term clinical buy-in for changing the way we prescribe, costs in Angus remain an outlier in both Tayside and Scotland.
“Consequently, against the current working budget, the financial picture remains one of significant overspend.
“Forecasts are difficult to compile due to the limited nature of information available, however an overspend of £1.899 million is included in the IJB’s July accounts and therefore prescribing remains a major risk for the IJB.”
Councillor Macmillan Douglas said: “The joint board is looking at a £2.6m overspend.
“Clearly in our present financial climate that is a matter of concern.
“However, I have great confidence that they will manage to improve standards and reduce costs over this year, and the next three years.”
