NHS Tayside is looking to make £21 million in efficiency savings with staff set to take the hardest hit.
Plans have been produced to save 3% of NHS Tayside’s general cash allocation, and union leaders say there will be “significant challenges ahead”.
Ian McDonald, director of finance for NHS Tayside, said: “As with all health boards, the Scottish Government efficiency target is set at 3%, with all savings made reinvested in frontline services.
“Our efficiency target for 2013-14 is £21m, recognising the local investment plan and other commitments.”
Some £14m of the planned savings is set to come from “workforce and clinical productivity” money spent on staff and how efficient the health board is with its resources.
Savings are to be made from a more efficient use of those resources, for example increasing the number of patients having surgeries by reducing the amount of time they will be in hospital.
As at August 31, £15.9m of that savings target was deemed safe with £5.1m still to be identified. This is similar to the position in other financial years.
NHS Tayside staff representative for the Unite union John Boland said staff were experiencing restructuring which had resulted in fewer higher paid staff and more lower paid staff.
“There are significant challenges ahead, and staff unions and organisations will be ensuring we are fully involved to limit any impact,” he said.
“There are pressures on staff due to staffing numbers, but sometimes this is more down to difficulties in recruiting than removing posts out of the system.
“In other areas there have been reductions in posts that are causing problems.”
Mr McDonald said efficiency targets are being sought across a range of clinical and operational areas. It includes £2.5m savings on the items NHS Tayside buys and £1.5m in its estates, for example making sure lights and computers are turned off.
He said: “The common theme around these changes and the commitment by NHS Tayside is that any change will deliver real improvements for patients.”
NHS Tayside also plans to make £2m savings in drugs and prescribing and £1m in support services.