As we enter a new financial year, all staff be expected to continue to deliver the same high-quality services during what will be one of the most challenging years for the public sector.

Laura Ace, director of finance, said: “The NHS Lanarkshire requires an estimated efficiency saving of £43m will be needed to remain within budget.

“The challenge for us all is to continue to provide safe, effective and person-centred care within a tighter financial package.

“Staff, with their unique insight into service provision, are ideally placed to identify efficiency opportunities We must remove waste and. We also need to support each other to realise these opportunities and to adopt and share best practice throughout NHS Lanarkshire.”

All staff are invited to share any ideas they have or initiatives they are taking forward to achieve efficiencies. These ideas can be discuss these with line managers or sent by email to info@lanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk for consideration.

Senior staff and managers will be looking at high cost pressure areas such as:

• Prescribing including the issue of realistic medicine
• Missed appointments and Did Not Attends (DNAs)
• Bank and agency staff and vacancies

However, everyone can make a difference every day by thinking about:

• Energy efficiency
• Sickness absence
• Hospitality – the provision of refreshments at meetings
• Printing and stationery costs
• Travel costs
• Using teleconferencing instead of attending meetings

Calum Campbell, chief executive, said: “The challenges ahead will impact on the way we all work. Work is already underway to develop a new healthcare strategy which will describe new models of care to reflect our integrated approach to health and social care provision.

“Every day our staff show they are dedicated to delivering exceptional care. Over the years, they have also shown that they are open to change to help ensure the best outcomes for our patients.”