The reasons were put down to the continuing level of spend on supplementary staffing, medicines, and surge capacity – the NHS’s ability to handle patient/care influx.

Other factors included legacy Covid-19 costs which the government will not be reimbursing the authority for, and cost of living increases across the board.

Maxine Michie, deputy director of finance, last week presented the board with a financial performance report with details of the overspend.