Fury as NHS STILL spends millions on woke jobs and projects despite Labor promise to reform ailing health service

The NHS continues to spend millions of pounds on politically correct frontline services, despite Labor’s pledge to reform our ailing health service, a Sun on Sunday investigation has revealed.

We have identified expensive projects in place across the UK since Labor took office. powerincluding in hospitals, the Care Quality Commission said there needs to be improvement.

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This comes despite previously announced crackdowns on such spending.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting revealed this week that in the first three months of this financial year, NHS trusts had accumulated budget deficits of £2 billion.

Since the general election in July, a number of jobs have been advertised across the country for people and diversity roles.

Yet critics say patients would prefer to see front-line staff employed.

A number of trusts also offer staff perks, including days off for birthdays and even compulsory training.

Many of these roles and projects are referred to as “virtue signaling” amid demands for health leaders need to stop wasting taxpayer dollars and focus on patient care.

According to figures from the end of last year, annual spending of £13m was already on 336 diversity roles across the country.

Last night Professor Karol Sikora, a London-based consultant oncologist, said: “What are these highly paid but totally unqualified diversity officers actually going to do?

“Next time you’re in a clinic waiting room, who do you really want to see: a doctor or an EDI (equality, diversity and inclusion) manager?

“Injecting billions more into the NHS will be completely useless unless we change the entire management structure. Being awake will only waste money and cost lives.

In an important speech this week, West Street said the NHS was on “borrowed time” and needed to improve its efficiency.

Yet we have seen jobs advertised across the country within NHS Trusts for various EDI roles since the election.

Among them, the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust was looking for a Patient EDI Manager and Engagement Coordinator, with a salary of up to £36,483.

Yet according to a 2020 Care Quality Commission report, the Royal Cornwall Hospital was in need of overall improvement, but progress has been made in recent years. It also has a deficit of almost £3.5 million.

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust is recruiting for a Public Participation and Equality Specialist for a salary of up to £44,962 and the role involves ensuring they “take a robust approach to public participation “. . . equality, diversity and inclusion”.

It already spends more than any other hospital in the country on role diversity.

According to the Taxpayers’ Alliance, it stands at £464,101.

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Despite this, the Care Quality Commission’s 2023 report, which examined maternity services, said they also needed to be improved. Its deficit is £71 million.

Figures last November from the TaxPayers’ Alliance showed that King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in London had ten rolls totaling £428,127.

Others have spent more than £200,000 on equality and diversity posts, including Barts Health NHS Trust in London, which spent £376,645 on seven posts.

However, in its most recent report, the CQC found that this requires overall improvement and that staff “regularly work during breaks and beyond the end of their shift”.

The Health Secretary should withhold the extra funds until NHS bosses prove they can spend them wisely.

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Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, which spent £352,930 on eight jobs, has reported a deficit of £22m in 2023.

The trust’s annual report said: “The financial environment in which we operate has been challenging, but we have made progress. »

The Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust spent £307,181.

The trust said in its annual report that it was “balancing the need to reduce waiting times and improve services”.

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Sir John Hayes, MP for the South Holland and The Deepings, in Lincolnshire, said: “I suppose most of my constituents want this money to be spent on doctors and nurses.

“Let’s put money on the front line, treating patients. This is what the NHS is for.

“Don’t pander to politically correct, woke mantras.”

A number of hospitals across the country offer other staff benefits.

Among them is the Northern Care Alliance NHS Trust, based in Greater Manchester, where employees can celebrate their birthday as part of their annual entitlement.

They can buy up to four weeks of extra holiday, which many trusts offer.

Elsewhere, hospital staff are entitled to a day off to attend mandatory training and get flu shots.

Between 2019 and 2022, trusts also spent £45,000 on rainbow crossings on NHS estates.

They include the North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust, which paid £950 to paint LGBT colors alongside zebra stripes on pedestrian crossings.

Shadow health secretary Edward Argar said: “So far we have seen words, not actions, from the Labor government.

“They need to take it seriously and ensure that our NHS money is invested in front line services.”

In her Budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves gave the NHS a cash injection of £22.6 billion over two years.

Joanna Marchong, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “The Health Secretary should withhold the extra funds until NHS bosses prove they can spend them wisely. »

The Department of Health and Social Care said: “Our 10-year health plan will fix the NHS so we can get more value for taxpayers’ money and clear the backlog. »

An NHS spokesperson said: “We are committed to ensuring that every penny of taxpayers’ money is used wisely for the benefit of patients, and the number of equality, diversity and inclusion roles has been reduced by NHS England as part of efforts to secure a greater proportion of roles. funding comes to the forefront.

A spokesperson for Nottingham University Hospitals said of its new specialist role: “It will work across the East Midlands to give people a chance to have a say in the process. future of their healthcare treatment, thereby helping them obtain cost-effective services.

And a Royal Cornwall spokesperson said its EDI role was to replace an existing funded position, “to ensure that patients, such as those with learning disabilities, can access healthcare”.

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