Scottish health board seeks sale of properties

A Scottish health board is planning to offload millions of pounds worth of its property portfolio in an attempt to reduce its £70 million deficit.

NHS Lothian has identified 15 properties in Edinburgh that could raise up to £15 million if sold, including the group's headquarters at Deaconess House. The board owns more than 300 properties in and around the city and has been reluctant to sell any of them while the property market has been in such a bad way.

The board's dire financial circumstances – which will force 2,000 job cuts in the next two years – means they are unable to delay it any longer.

Chief operating officer, James McCaffery, said, "We have identified about 15 properties we will market over the next year and that will include Deaconess House."

Other buildings include parts of Morningside's Astley Ainslie hospital and the Royal Edinburgh psychiatric hospital.

Finance director, Susan Goldsmith, said the sale of unused buildings was key to the financial plan and to offset dwindling funds from the Scottish Government in future. The sales echo previous similar moves by the board, which raised more than £100 million in the decade leading up to 2007 from sales including £33 million for the old Royal Infirmary at Lauriston.

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