Thank you, convener.
I thank the committee for the opportunity to make a short statement. I appreciate that it will wish to explore a number of issues that arise from the Auditor General’s section 22 report. I assure members that my colleagues and I want to answer your questions in a transparent and constructive manner.
For the record, I became chair of NHS Tayside a little over a year ago, which was midway through the period of the section 22 report. I was a clinician with around 40 years of experience in the NHS. At the start, I assure the committee of my personal commitment to ensuring that the board sustains high-quality, safe and effective health services for our patients, their families and our communities across the region. That is vital.
In the past 18 months, a major review has been undertaken to understand why Tayside NHS Board is in its current financial position. That has allowed us to develop plans to address that position in the manner that is described in our transformation programme. Time is limited so, rather than spend too much time on that, I will keep my statement short and allow the committee the opportunity to explore the issues that it has. However, I should state that, in developing our understanding of the current position and building our plans, which are credible in terms of financial stability, we have worked very closely with the Scottish Government. I acknowledge the support that we have received.
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We have also worked very closely with health and social care partnerships, local authority colleagues and third sector organisations to build a sustainable and affordable set of services for our community. It is vital that we develop our plans in partnership and are fully committed to partnership working with staff organisations.
The board should acknowledge that, prior to our partnership review, which was jointly commissioned by our director of human resources and our employee director, difficulties were experienced in partnership working and relations with trade unions, but the situation is improving and work has progressed over the past 18 months. I can say that with some confidence, as I attend all our area partnership forum meetings, which are co-chaired by our employee director and our chief executive. That positive work has been recognised by the Minister for Mental Health, who attended our annual review earlier this year and commented on the improved partnership working, which had been noted. As recently as last week, our staff governance committee received a formal assurance that there was engagement and positive development of partnership working. However, my colleagues and I are happy to address questions that members might have in that regard.
We have a very close relationship with the University of Dundee in an academic health science partnership, which allows us to address issues to do with training and the retention and recruitment of clinical staff, particularly nursing staff, AHP staff and medical staff. That partnership offers clear opportunities for all our staff to drive innovation in health service delivery.
In summary, we acknowledge that running a deficit is not acceptable and must be addressed. The committee has my personal commitment as chairman of the board that the board has an unremitting focus on a return to financial stability. Our five-year transformation programme actively addresses our financial position in a credible and structured way. It is led by our clinicians and is being developed in partnership with our trade unions. We have good evidence that that approach is already working. We have traction with improved financial metrics, which we are happy to demonstrate to the committee.
We have always delivered to the people of Tayside safe, high-quality and effective clinical care and treatment that are built on positive staff experience, and that will not change.