Labour will wage war on waste in the NHS, as it reveals billions
of pounds of taxpayers’ money is misspent.
The party will today (Tuesday) highlight £10 billion of spending
as examples of ways in which the government is wasting money or
spending it in the wrong places.
Speaking to the Institute for Government this morning, Shadow
Health Secretary, , will outline plans to reform the health service,
so that it provides better value for taxpayers and better care
for patients.
Labour’s reforms will upgrade NHS technology, provide more
healthcare closer to people’s homes, and prevent people from
falling ill in the first place.
Examples of waste include:
-
£1.7 billion cost of hospital beds for
patients who are well enough to leave, but can’t because there
is no care available in the community
-
£3.5 billion paid to recruitment agencies
because the Conservatives have failed to train enough staff
over the last 14 years
-
£626 million spent by the Department of Health
and Social Care on management consultants
-
£32 million value of the pagers NHS staff are
still forced to use
-
£1 billion of savings the NHS itself says is
available through bulk-buying equipment at a cheaper rate.
Currently some hospitals pay twice as much as others for
equipment like scanners and surgical tools.
The Shadow Health Secretary will also point to unnecessary red
tape which prevents health visitors from administering routine
vaccines for children, and propose cost-free reforms which would
allow them to do so, to help tackle the measles outbreak.
Speaking later today, will say:
“After 14 years of Conservative neglect of the NHS, we are paying
more but getting less.
“With a government that understands the value of public money,
that is brave enough to reform the NHS, that knows prevention is
better than cure, the crisis in the health service can be turned
around.
“I am focusing on waste because I want to give the public hope
that the NHS can be saved. The money that is wasted today can be
used to get the NHS back on its feet tomorrow. Only Labour has a
plan to reform the NHS.”
Ends
Notes:
