THE Scottish National Health Service has plunged more than £100m into debt, it has emerged. Four health boards have warned ministers that they have been unable to fund pay deals, rising drug bills and services from existing budgets.

They are considering making cuts and selling off land to balance their books, a strategy which the Scottish executive has deemed unacceptable.

Andy Kerr, the health minister, admitted last week that Argyll and Clyde health board has projected an overspend of £72.5m for the current year. The other boards reporting overspends are Grampian (£8.1m), Lanarkshire (£20m), and the Western Isles (£738,000).

The disclosure — which exposes the deepening financial crisis in the Scottish NHS — will cause embarrassment to the executive, given that health spending in Scotland is among the highest in Europe.

Much of the £9 billion spent each year on the NHS in Scotland has been swallowed up by a 20% pay rise for consultants and cuts in junior doctors’ working hours. Health boards are also facing spiralling drug bills.

Shona Robison, SNP shadow health minister, said she feared that the crisis was deeper than the official overspend figures suggest.

“I know that many others have had to make cuts and used non-recurring revenue, from one-off land sales and so on, to balance their books,” she said.

Robison said the executive should provide more funding for national initiatives, including pay deals, to ease the pressure on boards. She claimed that an SNP government would require greater financial transparency from boards to allow the public to see if they were delivering value for money.

The executive said local financial recovery plans were being put in place to ensure that services do not suffer.

“The minister made it absolutely clear during the annual review process that he considers it a priority for every board to work within their record allocations,” said a spokesman. “We are in regular contact with boards to monitor their financial position.”

Last month the executive admitted that record spending had failed to improve levels of care.

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