More than three quarters of mainland NHS boards are losing out on funding because of the formula that is used to allocate cash across the health service.

In its manifesto the SNP promised a review of the NHS Scotland Resource Allocation Committee (NRAC) formula, which has been in place since 2009 but has prompted complaints that some areas do not get a fair share.

A total of eight of the 11 mainland regional health boards are in this situation, according to Audit Scotland and health board meeting papers.

Under NRAC, funding is divided up according to the population of each board, then adjusted for age, sex and other factors such as the health of the area and geography.

As some boards were further off a ‘target’ funding level when NRAC was brought in, changes have been phased in gradually.

NHS Lothian, which is 0.8% short of NRAC ‘parity’, has lost around £80m since 2015, according to board papers published last month which refer to a “continued push” with the Scottish government to “regularise” the funding situation. Eight of the 11 mainland boards are “now in the same position as Lothian with this funding gap”, the documents state.

For the coming 2021/22 financial year this works out as a roughly £12-14m funding gap, the board says.

For NHS Grampian, which is the same distance from the target level, this worked out as an £8m shortfall in 2019/20, according to figures from the Scottish Parliament’s research centre.

Other boards in a similar situation include Ayrshire & Arran, Fife, Forth Valley, Highland, Lanarkshire and Tayside, according to Audit Scotland’s NHS 2020 report.

Former Health Secretary Jeane Freeman, who stood down at the May election, has previously said that NRAC could be changed.

“All formulas have their advantages and disadvantages” Ms Freeman told MSPs in February, “but I think though at this point the safest thing to say is that [NRAC] should be reviewed, partly in light of the pandemic, but also potentially in light of the review of adult social care.”

The SNP manifesto included a commitment to review the formula so that funding would be distributed “equitably”.

Implementing the social care review, which recommended an enhanced role for Integration Joint Boards, could also see further changes for the NHS, with the manifesto pledging to look again at the “number, structure and regulation” of health boards.

The party also promised a 20% boost to NHS Scotland funding over the next Parliament.

Read more: Manifesto health check: the SNP; Health Secretary signals health funding review; ‘No end in sight’ for IJBs covid-19 cash pressures

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