A FOURTH health board has said it is preparing to make savings of tens of millions of pounds amid warnings of a looming financial crisis facing the NHS.

NHS Highland said it would have to make efficiencies of £28 million, around five per cent of its annual budget, despite the Scottish Government pledging to boost health spending.

The admission comes after it emerged that NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde was having to consider axing jobs and services to make savings of £1 million a week while NHS Lothian is predicting that it will have to make efficiencies of £84 million next year to stay in the black. NHS Lanarkshire is preparing to save five per cent of its budget.

Despite spending on the NHS being at record levels, increasing demand from a rapidly ageing population along with rising drug, equipment and staffing costs mean that health boards are facing tough decisions to balance the books while still meeting stringent waiting times targets.

A spokeswoman for NHS Highland, confirming the requirement to save almost £30m, said planning was "very much work in progress".

Scottish Conservative health spokesman Jackson Carlaw said: "The SNP’s plans to wield the axe on health boards across Scotland will not do much to put the minds of patients and hard-working staff at rest.

"With emergency care facing deep cuts and waiting times through the roof – these secret budget cuts will cause havoc for our NHS across Scotland. Patients and staff deserve better."

In its recent budget, the Scottish Government announced plans to increase spending on the health service by 6.5 per cent, to £13 billion. However, Audit Scotland said that prior to the increase, the total NHS budget had fallen by 0.7 per cent in real terms since 2009.

Shona Robison, the health secretary, said: "The Scottish Government has protected and increased Scotland’s health budget – which will rise to almost £13 billion next year – a record level. This includes increases to health boards of over £500 million, which includes £250 million for social care, as has been advocated for across the Scottish Parliament.

"Territorial health boards have themselves been given a revenue increase of 5.5 per cent on 2015-16. This all comes despite substantial cuts to Scotland’s budget from Westminster.

"Boards must engage in careful financial planning as they plan their services to meet the needs of their local communities. This includes boards working to deliver efficiencies, and every penny Territorial Boards save will be retained and used to provide frontline services."