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A health board has defended its spending record after a council had to provide an extra £3.2m towards social care costs.

Scottish Borders Council gave the extra funding to the region's integrated joint board (IJB) for 2018/19.

The IJB is funded as a partnership between the local authority and NHS Borders.

The health board said it was committed to addressing the financial challenges being faced by its services.

NHS Borders received an additional £10m from the Scottish government in 2018/19 to tackle the pressure it is under.

'Excellent record'

It said it was working on a "longer-term plan" to return to financial balance "as quickly as possible".

Chief executive Ralph Roberts said: "NHS Borders has had an excellent record of delivering good quality and relatively high-performing services, while also balancing the budget.

"We have acknowledged that in the last 12 months we have faced a number of challenges that required the board to request additional support to meet our immediate financial targets.

"However the board is fully committed to addressing the financial situation it faces.

"To do this we are working extremely hard with our staff and as we progress this will also need to involve partners and, very importantly, local communities."