Still no news from the Co-operation and Competition Panel about what it considers hospital consultants may be allowed to do in their free time; but with the news this week that a top firm of management consultants had recommended a 10% cut in NHS staff in the next five years it would probably have taken second place anyway.
Did you know that the NHS spends as much on management consultants every year as it does on hospital consultants? I have no doubt that some management consultants do more than borrow your watch to tell you the time but this is ridiculous! This ‘gold Rolex’ was not only paid for by government (sorry, you and I as taxpayers) but the time it gave was so inaccurate that Ministers rightly preferred to send it back.
The serious point about all this is that any assessment of healthcare costs must get away from the old fashioned principles of putting hard pressed and dedicated staff on the chopping board for the first cut. The management consultants said that by cutting 137,000 jobs a saving of £20bn would be achieved by the year 2014.
On the evidence of this performance, I am sure I am not alone in being able to offer (at no charge to the taxpayer or government) an alternative for the chop.
Tags: Funding, Management consultants, Workforce
