06 February 2009
By David Scott in Edinburgh
NHS bodies need to improve the management of assets such as land, buildings and medical equipment to provide more effective patient care, a study by Audit Scotland has found.
In a report, Asset management in the NHS, published on January 29, the public spending watchdog said there was no complete picture of the quality of the NHS estate across Scotland.
Some bodies lacked information on the condition of their assets and not all had clear links between their clinical and asset strategies.
The study found that while most of the assets – valued at about £5bn – were in a satisfactory condition, around one-third would need to be upgraded soon.
Information provided by 16 NHS bodies indicated that at least £512m was required to address all outstanding estate maintenance issues over the coming years.
Auditor general Bob Black said that while NHS bodies were beginning to manage their assets more strategically, better information was needed about their condition and performance.
He added: 'This is an area where the NHS might be able to achieve greater efficiency, but it is difficult to say on what scale because of the lack of information.
'The Scottish Government and NHS bodies have begun to take a joint approach to estate management across the public sector. They need to build on this and ensure stronger monitoring of the outcome of capital projects and the performance of assets.'
The report also pointed out that the Scottish Government would have invested £3bn in NHS assets between 2003 and 2011, including projects aimed at shifting the balance of care for patients out of hospitals and closer to their homes.
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