A HEALTH board is to reduce nursing levels and said further cuts are required "as a matter of urgency."

Official papers show NHS Ayrshire and Arran over-spent by £2million on staff to maintain "safe levels of service" in wards which were over-occupied.

The board said action was required to reduce staff in wards which were "significantly" above budget.

The problem, it said, had been exacerbated by high staff sickness absence in some wards.

The papers state that the board was over budget by £3.8million in December and that further cost cutting strategies will be required "as a matter of urgency."

They state: "Occupancy levels are higher than the 85% (95% and above for many wards).....with additional staff required to provide safe levels of service.

"Action is required to be taken to bring those wards (both acute and mental health) with nurse staffing levels significantly above establishment into line with budget for the remainder of the year.

"Tighter control also needs to be exercised around spend on medical agency locums due to their high cost nature.

"Further actions to address this overspend needs to be identified as a matter of urgency.

Research has indicated that bed occupancy rates of over 85% increase the risk of harm to patients.

The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh has said evidence had shown that 85% was "the maximum safe level at which we can treat patients".

The board papers also warn about "very high" staff sickness levels in mental health wards and an overspend of £500,000 in 2015/2016 in prescription costs because of rising drug costs.

Labour's health spokesman Richard Simpson said: "This is a problem throughout our NHS.

"We know from the NHS staff survey that only a third of NHS workers think that believe there are enough staff for them to do their jobs properly.

“The Royal College of Nursing has warned that the number of nursing students entering the workforce in 2015 and 2016 is projected to be the lowest since 2002.

“Our NHS, established in the 1940s, needs to be given the resources to face the challenges of the 2040s.

"That means investing in social care to take the pressure off hospitals and give more patients the dignity of care in their own home. That change starts with paying care workers the living wage, and delivering a national guarantee for care workers.”

A spokeswoman for NHS Ayrshire and Arran said: "Safe nursing and midwifery staffing levels are a top priority for NHS Ayrshire & Arran.

"To ensure patient safety when there are high levels of sickness in staff, or an additional workload pressure, additional staff are brought in to support these peaks.

"Before going to agencies for nursing staff, we use our ‘nurse bank’ (these are existing members of staff who can choose to make themselves available for additional shifts) and offer extra hours to existing part-time workers.

"We only use agency nurses to maintain services when all other solutions have been considered and the use of agency staff is required to provide a safe level of service.