Grant funding of health voluntary organizations by Scottish health boards

Abstract

The objective of this study was to identify grant funding of voluntary organizations by Scottish health boards in the financial year 1997–1998. Scottish health board financial commitments to voluntary organizations were surveyed. Fifteen health board Directors of Finance participated in the study. The outcome measures were relative and absolute commitments of grant expenditure to the voluntary sector by health boards in Scotland. Total expenditure of Scotland's 15 health boards ranged from zero to £764,910. One health board did not support any voluntary organizations while the greatest number supported by an individual health board was 43. Of health boards that made grants to voluntary bodies the range of expenditure per head of resident population was £0.09–£3.00p. The average grant expenditure to voluntary organizations ranged from £1,839 to £30,308. The most substantial funding fell to voluntary bodies within the fields of mental health, alcohol and community elderly care. However, there was substantial variation between health boards in whether these bodies were funded, and to what extent funding was given. In conclusions, health boards have conflicting practices in funding voluntary organizations. Although there may be some variation in the needs of voluntary bodies across health boards, this is unlikely to explain the scale of the variation. Further work is required to explain this phenomenon and to propose policies for the support of the voluntary sector by the National Health Service that are acceptable to both funders and providers of services. Public Health(2000) 114, 320–323