Commenting on the Scottish Parliament’s Audit Committee report into the management at NHS Western Isles, Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary Ross Finnie said:

“This report raises very serious questions about management failure at NHS Western Isles and the Health Department in the Scottish Executive. It is totally unacceptable that finances at NHS Western Isles were allowed to disintegrate in this way.

“The Government must revisit how Ministers and their civil servants monitor Health Board budgets. It’s crucial that lessons are learned from this fiasco. It’s critical that there is competent management in place in NHS Boards to handle finite and precious NHS resources.”