SUBSTANTIAL savings have been identified within NHS Dumfries and Galloway — but it continues to experience severe financial pressure.
Health and social care services bosses are racing to meet a savings target of £30.7 million set for the current financial year.
And a meeting of the Dumfries and Galloway Integration Joint Board (IJB) earlier this week heard that about half of the potential savings have so far been identified.
But members were also told significant further work is needed to meet the total required.
Chief finance officer Katy Kerr described the target as ‘ambitious but essential’ and warned that the scale of the challenge will require ‘difficult decisions and transformation’ across both NHS and council-delivered services.
She said: “We’ve made substantial progress in identifying savings schemes, with over half of the target now scoped. But we are under no illusion about the challenge ahead. The pressures we are dealing with — particularly around pay, prescribing, and care delivery — are systemic and unprecedented.”
Of the £30.7 million savings target for 2025/26, £18.2 million relates to services delegated to NHS Dumfries and Galloway by the IJB, while £12.5 million is to be delivered from adult social care services delegated from Dumfries and Galloway Council.
A range of savings and transformation work is underway and areas being explored include medicines optimisation, energy efficiency, contract reviews, and new models of care delivery
IJB chair Kim Dams said: “This is a very serious financial position and we must be realistic about the scale of the challenge ahead.
“Our responsibility is to protect vital services while making sure they are financially sustainable. That will require tough decisions, but also real collaboration across our health and care system.”
