'Irrecoverable'debt on cards

Public spending watchdogs have warned that a Scottish NHS board is on course to rack up£60-£70m debt by 2007-08 which may be 'irrecoverable'.

Audit Scotland's Overview of the National Health Service in Scotland for 2002-03, published yesterday, said a recovery plan set in motion by NHS Argyll and Clyde would not be enough to clear its likely debts.

Ministers intervened last year after concerns were raised about the area's health bodies' management and budgets, leading to the resignation of four chief executives.

The report also expressed particular concern about three other NHS bodies. Although it found that, overall, financial stewardship in the NHS was of a high standard, it said that non-recurrent funding was still being used to keep trusts in the black.