NHS Tayside breaks even a year ahead of schedule

The health board has also repaid £3m of additional funding

A Scottish health board which had to be bailed out with tens of millions of pounds of additional funding says it has now broken even.

NHS Tayside said it was operating within its funding levels with no further need of loans from the Scottish government.

It said it had achieved the result a year ahead of schedule.

The board has also repaid £3m of the £7m it received in 2019-20, the eighth consecutive year it required extra financial assistance.

The health board was put in "special measures" by the government from April 2018 to February 2019.

It was one of a number of Scottish health boards to have its debts written off after receiving millions of pounds of government loans, known as brokerage.

The board's finance director Stuart Lyall said the accounts were a "significant achievement" and marked a "major milestone."

He said: “Following a number of years where we have faced considerable financial challenges, we have delivered a balanced set of accounts with no requirement for additional borrowing from Scottish government."