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Figures reveal NHS spent £350m on consultants
May 10 2009 Sunday Sun
THE NHS spent £350m hiring management consultants in England last year, according to figures released today.
The Royal College of Nursing, which used freedom of information legislation to obtain the figures, branded the spending “utterly shocking” at a time when the health system is being asked to make savings.
Some £273m of the money spent was not related to patient care, said RCN chief executive Peter Carter . . . the equivalent of 330 fully-staffed 28-bed medical wards, 9160 experienced staff nurses or 267,647 bed days in an intensive baby care unit.
The bulk of the money was being spent on setting up competition in the health service and supporting bids for Foundation status by NHS trusts, he said.
“These figures are utterly shocking when you consider the difference that this money could have made to patients,” said Dr Carter.
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