No evidence other health boards misused endowment fund, Holyrood told

There is nothing to suggest that health boards other than NHS Tayside have misused endowment funding, MSPs have been told.

Health Secretary Shona Robison said that in the event of any such money being spent inappropriately she would expect it to be repaid swiftly and in full''.

Ms Robison faced questions at Holyrood after it emerged NHS Tayside is to refund more than £2 million taken from its endowment fund, which is made up of donations from the public or bequests in wills, to cover general running costs.

A new leadership team has been put in place at the health board, which has been beset with financial problems and has been bailed out with £45.3 million in Scottish Government loans so far.

Tory health spokesman Miles Briggs said there had been repeated failures of oversight'' on the part of Ms Robison's department and a lack of scrutiny and supervision.

He said: In light of the concerns that other NHS boards may have also been using charitable funds in a similar way, does the cabinet secretary not agree that an independent broader inquiry into the extent of this practice across Scotland is now needed, one that is able to make clear recommendations about how to prevent this happening again in the future?''

The health secretary responded: At the moment there's nothing to suggest that the endowment funds of other boards have been used in a way that Tayside used theirs.''

All NHS boards have been asked to give an assurance that their charitable funds have been used appropriately by the end of the month, and these will be passed to the Office of the Scottish Charities Regulator (OSCR), which is already looking into the Tayside case.

Ms Robison told the parliament that OSCR was the right independent body to investigate the situation.

She added: I don't think it's fair to say that the Scottish Government has not tried in its endeavours to support NHS Tayside.

Over the years we have given extensive support to that board.''

She acknowledged that stabilising the board will take some time''.

Labour's Anas Sarwar repeated calls for the health secretary to step down.

He said: The leadership of our NHS, cabinet secretary, is you.

You have let down NHS staff, you have failed too many patients, you have breached the trust of the public and this has happened on your watch in your local health board.

This is your mismanagement and your failure. The sad reality is that the public have lost confidence in this cabinet secretary and this cabinet secretary has lost control of her brief.'