"Recommendations were made after it was found that the contract to provide intermediate care at the Nairn medical centre had been in place since 1998 but had not been subject to a formal tender or “value for money” assessment.
The contract, which is now worth about £200,000 a year, was terminated by the board in May 2016 for “unclear” reasons, but it was then reinstated following a complaint by the practice.
A new intermediate care contract was then agreed between the board and the Nairn centre in September 2016, and money was paid to the Nairn facility from then despite the deal not being officially signed off until February 2017 – meaning NHS Highland was paying for a service that was not legally agreed."