NEWS FROM LABOUR: Cameron's NHS shake-up creates army of 12,000 bureaucrats
Cameron’s NHS shake-up creates army of 12,000 bureaucrats
David Cameron’s NHS reorganisation has created an additional bureaucratic layer of 12,000 new posts, new figures reveal today.
The posts - costing hundreds of millions of pounds to the taxpayer - arise from changes brought in under the Government’s Health and Social Care Act.
Instead of funding extra bureaucrats the money could have funded at least 5,500 more nurses, Labour has established.
The act - which brought in the overall £3billion NHS shake-up - abolished 152 Primary Care Trusts and 10 Strategic Health Authorities, replacing them with 212 Clinical Commissioning Groups.
However, answers to Parliamentary Questions tabled by the Shadow Health Minister, Liz Kendall, reveal Cameron’s NHS reorganisation has also created: - 24 new “NHS England Area Teams” - employing 3,430 staff and costing £230m a year. £168m of this annual budget is for salaries: the equivalent of £49,000 for every member of staff - 18 new “Commissioning Support Units” employing 8,450 staff. The Government has refused to say what the budget is for CSUs, or how much their staff cost the taxpayer, claiming the information is commercially sensitive. Liz Kendall MP, Shadow Minister for Care and Older People, said: “Far from cutting bureaucracy, David Cameron’s backroom NHS reorganisation has created an army of new bureaucrats, taking vital resources away from the frontline and causing utter confusion in the system. “The cost of the new NHS England Area Teams alone would pay for 5,500 nurses or 17 million hours of home visits for frail elderly people. “Taxpayers have a right to know how much they are paying for the Tories new army of NHS bureaucrats. Cameron should stop the spin, come clean and tell the public what the full cost is of his reckless NHS reorganisation.” Ends Editor’s Notes 1. NHS England Local area teams:http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2013-11-18a.175462.h&s=%28liz+kendall%29+section%3Awrans#g175462.q0 2. Commissioning Support Units:http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2013-11-18a.175584.h&s=%28liz+kendall%29+section%3Awrans#g175584.q0 3. The median annual cost of employing a nurse (incl. NI and pensions) in 2013/14 is £41,598 (according to NHS Staff Earnings estimates July 2011 to September 2011) 4. The average charge for an hour of home care in England is £13.53 in 2013/14 (according to Labour’s Home Care Charges Survey, to which 76% of local councils have responded) For more information please call the office of Liz Kendall on 0207 219 7098 or 07707683412.
David Cameron’s NHS reorganisation has created an additional bureaucratic layer of 12,000 new posts, new figures reveal today.
The posts - costing hundreds of millions of pounds to the taxpayer - arise from changes brought in under the Government’s Health and Social Care Act.
Instead of funding extra bureaucrats the money could have funded at least 5,500 more nurses, Labour has established.
The act - which brought in the overall £3billion NHS shake-up - abolished 152 Primary Care Trusts and 10 Strategic Health Authorities, replacing them with 212 Clinical Commissioning Groups.
However, answers to Parliamentary Questions tabled by the Shadow Health Minister, Liz Kendall, reveal Cameron’s NHS reorganisation has also created: - 24 new “NHS England Area Teams” - employing 3,430 staff and costing £230m a year. £168m of this annual budget is for salaries: the equivalent of £49,000 for every member of staff - 18 new “Commissioning Support Units” employing 8,450 staff. The Government has refused to say what the budget is for CSUs, or how much their staff cost the taxpayer, claiming the information is commercially sensitive. Liz Kendall MP, Shadow Minister for Care and Older People, said: “Far from cutting bureaucracy, David Cameron’s backroom NHS reorganisation has created an army of new bureaucrats, taking vital resources away from the frontline and causing utter confusion in the system. “The cost of the new NHS England Area Teams alone would pay for 5,500 nurses or 17 million hours of home visits for frail elderly people. “Taxpayers have a right to know how much they are paying for the Tories new army of NHS bureaucrats. Cameron should stop the spin, come clean and tell the public what the full cost is of his reckless NHS reorganisation.” Ends Editor’s Notes 1. NHS England Local area teams:http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2013-11-18a.175462.h&s=%28liz+kendall%29+section%3Awrans#g175462.q0 2. Commissioning Support Units:http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2013-11-18a.175584.h&s=%28liz+kendall%29+section%3Awrans#g175584.q0 3. The median annual cost of employing a nurse (incl. NI and pensions) in 2013/14 is £41,598 (according to NHS Staff Earnings estimates July 2011 to September 2011) 4. The average charge for an hour of home care in England is £13.53 in 2013/14 (according to Labour’s Home Care Charges Survey, to which 76% of local councils have responded) For more information please call the office of Liz Kendall on 0207 219 7098 or 07707683412.