HEALTH board officials have played down a £23m repair bill for Inverclyde Royal.

The Tele revealed on Monday the current cost of the backlog of work at the Larkfield Road hospital.

Details obtained by west of Scotland MSP Neil Bibby under freedom of information laws show the bill has almost halved in the last three years - but nearly 400 jobs costing £23m still need to be carried out.

Bosses from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (GGC) health board insist the figure is not what it seems and that they are on top of repairs.

A spokeswoman said: "It is important to note, there is a difference between 'maintenance' which is the cost of maintaining the functional operation of the hospital, as opposed to 'backlog maintenance', which is the cost that would be incurred to bring the whole hospital up to the state-of-the-art standard of a brand new building.

"As a property ages it requires more investment to achieve this optimal standard.

"The 'maintenance' costs are being met to maintain the day-to-day operation of the hospital and the 'backlog maintenance' phased work we are carrying out is ongoing."

Officials reiterated that £19m has been invested in IRH over the last five years, including £2.5m on a new boiler plant, £400,000 on a new chiller unit to regulate ward temperatures in the summer and £430,000 in energy efficiency works.

That figure also includes the cost of the purpose-built Orchard View care facility for adults and older people on the former site of the nurses' accommodation block.

Mr Bibby has described the maintenance backlog as 'staggering' and challenged Holyrood ministers to do more to improve IRH.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "We're committed to improving the quality of the NHS estate and this is why, with our health boards, we have a clear plan in place to deliver the investment our health facilities need.

"For example, over the next three years the NHS is planning to invest over £1.2 billion in its estate.

"Backlog maintenance has reduced by over £110 million between 2011 and 2016, with the majority of the backlog being in either buildings in non-clinical parts of the estate or not being in use."