NHS Ayrshire & Arran faces a £22 million deficit in its revenue budget for the year ahead after an exhausting 12 months of staff battling Covid.Health bosses have found ways to save £9.3 million so far during 2021 to 2022 and are looking at other cuts.East Ayrshire Council leader Douglas Reid said “we can’t panic about it” during an NHS board meeting when the draft budget was presented.
John Burns, chief executive of the health board, described the financial plan as “work in progress.” He said: “We are still working our way through the cost pressures and scrutinising and challenging our understanding of those as well as looking at where we have redesign options or areas where we can work differently, which will bring further.