NHS to receive £70m to renovate its offices
HEALTH Secretary Jeremy Hunt has been accused of wasting almost £70million sprucing up NHS offices while patients are put at risk because of a backlog of urgent hospital repairs.
Department of Health figures reveal £68million has been spent refurbishing offices since 2010, with another £20million revamp to come before May including a £1.4million makeover of the Health Secretary’s Richmond House offices in Westminster.
In contrast, separate Department of Health figures reveal more than £4billion is needed to bring its buildings, including hospitals, up to an acceptable level.
More than £350million of that investment is required for “high risk” repair work, required to avoid serious injury to patients and major disruption to care.
Last night Jonathan Isaby, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, described the news as “staggering” and told the Sunday Express: “The priority for the NHS has to be patient care and every single penny spent needs to be focused on that goal. We can ill afford this kind of wasteful spending when our debt burden is well over a trillion pounds.”
Labour’s Shadow Health Minister Andrew Gwynne, who unearthed the figures, said: “This cash should have been used to hire more nurses or help people get GP appointments.”
The priority for the NHS has to be patient care and every single penny spent needs to be focused on that goal. We can ill afford this kind of wasteful spending when our debt burden is well over a trillion pounds
Both sets of figures came in response to parliamentary questions and show the cost of refurbishing offices spiralled last year because of new quangos created as part of NHS reorganisation.
The backlog of hospital repairs has grown from £4.036billion in 2012-2013 to £4.042billion in 2014.
Problems include crumbling walls, leaks and urgent fire safety and electrical upgrades.
Commenting on the revamp, a Department of Health spokeswoman said: “These were essential renovations to Department of Health buildings. In addition we have also invested more than £5billion maintaining NHS buildings in the past five years.”
