NHS Lothian eyes tie-ups to save cash

NHS Lothian has launched a bid to work more closely with other public sector organisations in order to save money.

Talks have already been ongoing for years with the four Lothians councils about forging stronger links.

However, health chiefs said it would not lead to any compulsory redundancies, though they accepted the news may cause "anxiety".

Proposals include sharing resources and premises with local authorities, and some work has already been undertaken, with hundreds of NHS Lothian staff moving into city centre Scottish Government offices.

The health board thinks significant cash could be saved across the public sector by more sensible partnership working, without over centralising.

Action director of strategic planning Professor Alex McMahon said: "Working more closely with our public sector partners will help us reduce costs, enabling us to build closer working relationships.

"Increased partnership working in the public sector can help us pool our resources and benefit from shared costs, which will help all public sector organisations."