Argyll & Bute CHP Committee
26 July 2007
Item No: 8.2
ARGYLL & BUTE CHP FINANCE DEPARTMENT
Capital Programme
Report by George Morrison
- Capital Plan 2007/08
Funding for capital investment in land, buildings and equipment is provided by the Scottish Executive and this can be supplemented locally by property sale proceeds. In 2007/08, the capital funding available to Argyll & Bute CHP is almost £10m, as summarised below;
Funding allocations£6.879m
Underspend c/f from 06/07£2.000m
Property sales£0.894m
£9.770m
Against this, the CHP has made commitments amounting to only £5.61m and, even allowing for proposals under consideration, the capital plan for the current financial year is therefore significantly under-committed. Full details of funding, commitments and proposals are contained in the CHP’s five year capital plan issued along with this report.
- 2007/08 Capital Schemes
There are a significant number of capital schemes underway in 2007/08 and summarised information on the main schemes follows;
Campbeltown Hospital – Casualty
This scheme is to relocate and expand the casualty department within Campbeltown hospital. It will provide a new larger resuscitation room, treatment rooms, new dedicated waiting area and ambulance parking adjacent to the department. It is anticipated that this scheme will be completed within the next 3-4 months.
Endoscopy Decontamination Upgrades – LIDGH & Dunoon Hospital
The objective of these schemes is to upgrade decontamination facilities on the two hospital sites to current standards thereby enabling the continuation of endoscopy services. Works are nearing completion in Dunoon and will be undertaken in LIDGH over the next few months.
Bunessan GP Surgery
The intention is to replace the GP surgery and GP house in Bunessan on the west coast of Mull. Current proposals are significantly in excess of the agreed budget and alternative solutions are currently being considered.
DDA Compliance Works
The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 made it unlawful to treat people with disabilities less favourably for reasons related to their disabilities. As a result the CHP is aiming to make adjustments to the physical features of premises to overcome barriers to access faced by people with disabilities. A significant programme of works is being undertaken to upgrade facilities across the Argyll & Bute area with the focus this year being mainly on GP surgeries owned by the CHP.
Mid Argyll Helipad
There is currently no official helicopter landing pad in Mid Argyll with all landings taking place on the front green in Lochgilphead. This has inherent risks as it is an open public access area. To provide a safe and more suitable landing area the CHP is building a helipad adjacent to the new Mid Argyll Community Hospital and Integrated Care Centre. Work is anticipated to commence in August and be completed by November 2007.
Dental Decontamination Rooms – Various Sites
As with endoscopy decontamination there is a requirement to bring decontamination facilities for dental instruments up to more stringent current standards. Works are currently planned for a number of sites across Argyll & Bute where dental services are provided.
Upgrade of Audiology Rooms – Various Sites
Following Scottish Executive guidance to provide adequate facilities to enable hearing tests to be undertaken locally, localities without existing or with inadequate facilities are to be provided with audiology hearing test rooms to be compliant with current standards and guidelines. New or replacement audiology soundproofed test rooms are to be provided at the following sites; Campbeltown Hospital, Islay Hospital, Rothesay Victoria Infirmary and Dunoon Hospital.
Islay Hospital Electrical Upgrade
The purpose of this scheme is to replace the 40 year old electrical switchgear which is no longer serviceable, thereby preventing complete system failure in the future. Anticipated completion date is end of October 2007.
Rothesay Dental Cabin
This scheme is to replace the existing dental surgery which is a 20 year old van permanently located in the car park of Rothesay Health Centre. The replacement surgery will be a modern modular building located to the rear of Rothesay Victoria Infirmary.
Dunoon Community Casualty Unit
This is phase one of a larger scheme to redevelop facilities at Dunoon Hospital. This phase involves the relocation and upgrade of the Community Casualty Unit together with a number of associated internal relocations. It is anticipated that works will commence in October/November 2007.
Medical Equipment
A significant number of new and replacement items of medical equipment are included in the capital programme. Major items include new x-ray equipment for both LIDGH and Dunoon Hospital.
- Future Years’ Plans
It can be seen from the five year capital plan that future years are oversubscribed against available capital funds. This is mainly due to a large number of schemes that are at proposal stage rather than actual commitments. The CHP is required to manage within available funds and it will therefore be necessary to prioritise proposals within the limits of available capital funding.
- Revenue Consequences of Capital Schemes
Capital schemes attract revenue costs such as capital charges (depreciation and loan interest), property and maintenance costs and occasionally even salary costs. It is important that capital and revenue financial planning are synchronised to ensure that revenue costs associated with capital schemes are identified and allowed for. Arrangements are in place to ensure that this is the case within Argyll & Bute CHP.
It is, however, worth noting that levels of capital funding available to the CHP are relatively generous. This will have the effect of adding significant revenue costs to the CHP’s cost base if all of the available capital funding is fully utilised. At present, with the under-utilisation of capital funding, this is helping to restrict associated revenue costs, however if the CHP fully utilises available capital funds it will place a considerable burden on the CHP’s revenue budget.
George Morrison
Head of Finance
17 July 2007
H:\My Documents\2007\Committee\July 2007\Item 8.2 Capital Plan Update.doc