RCN response to consultancy services expenditure

Published: 21 August 2010

Embargoed until 00.01 Saturday 21 August 2010

RCN response to consultancy services expenditure

Commenting on reports of consultancy services expenditure by Strategic Health Authorities and Primary Care Trusts, RCN Chief Executive & General Secretary Dr Peter Carter said:

“These figures are shocking and nothing short of a scandal. It is extremely difficult to see how spending more than £313m on consultancy services in one year can be justified. There are currently more managers within the NHS than at any point in its history, so why are SHAs and PCTs buying in additional expertise?

“At a time when nurses and other staff are seeing frontline services cut and being asked to accept a pay freeze, these organisations need to clearly demonstrate they are getting good value for money from the tax payer’s health pounds. Spending this amount of money at the same time we have identified NHS Trusts cutting thousands of NHS jobs is outrageous.

“One of the key objectives of our Frontline First campaign is to identify waste within the NHS. Both patients and staff have an expectation that taxpayer’s money is spent on frontline patient care, not on consultancy services.”

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Notes for Editors

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Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is the voice of nursing across the UK and is the largest professional union of nursing staff in the world. The RCN promotes the interest of nurses and patients on a wide range of issues and helps shape healthcare policy by working closely with

the UK Government and other national and international institutions, trade unions, professional bodies and voluntary organisations.