| No sooner were they reassured they had no cash in Icelandic banks, than they were warned private businesses faced going bust in the current climate. NHS Tayside has dealings with many private businesses.
Many builders were said to be in “perilous states of financial health” and many care homes were on the verge of going bust.
Everything from major building programmes to minor works could be halted if local and national companies go under while contracted to the NHS.
And bosses were warned specifically about the potential threat to private nursing homes the commercial sector relied on to help move people out of acute hospitals as soon as possible and prevent bed blocking.
A gloomy picture was painted at the meeting of NHS Tayside’s strategic policy and resources committee in King’s Cross Hospital, Dundee.
Finance director David Clark was pleased to be able to tell colleagues their bank account was “not exposed in the way many organisations have been recently”.
The health authority previously confirmed to the Tele that, unlike several other public organisations, they had no cash in Icelandic banks.
However, non-executive director Andrew Richmond quickly doused optimism with a harsh warning about the effects of NHS Tayside’s inter-relationship with the commercial world.
Before coming to Tayside in recent years, he worked in the City, where his main business was raising money for care homes.
He called on colleagues to be wary of the state of businesses with whom they were about to sign contracts and those they were already dealing with.
He said, “What can we do to make sure the people we are doing business with are in financial health before we sign a contract?”
He urged that future businesses should be very thoroughly checked out to ensure, as far as possible, they were in rude financial health.
NHS Tayside’s senior financial advisors agreed to scrutinise existing policies around entering in to contracts to ensure risks were minimised as far as possible. |
