NHS Blows £1 Million on ‘Woke Groups’
The NHS has spent more than £1 million on hundreds of ‘woke’ staff networks at a time when it desperately needs more cash for patient care. The Daily Mail has more.
Nearly 500 of these groups have been set up by health trusts across the U.K. – taking up around 36,000 hours of staff time a year. Despite ministers’ calls for the NHS to cut back on “waste and wokery”, some groups use taxpayers’ money to put on events around transgender issues, sexuality and racism, often held during the working day.
These have included “tea and rainbow cake” picnics, a special session about pronouns and a Filipino martial arts performance. Amid fears of an impending winter NHS crisis, the audit by the TaxPayers’ Alliance found there are now at least 493 networks across the UK health service.
These took up at least 108,807 hours of dedicated staff time over the last three years and cost the taxpayer £1,081,878 in this period.
The true figures are likely to be higher as only 111 out of more than 230 trusts responded to Freedom of Information requests. They only cover time spent running the groups, not attending them.
It is feared the NHS is heading for another crisis this winter as it faces seasonal pressures and a post-Covid backlog in treatment.
Despite the National Insurance hike to raise funds and help clear the backlog, waiting lists have hit record highs. This week, the precarious state of emergency care was laid bare when one woman was forced to wait 40 hours for an ambulance. Last night, critics suggested taxpayers would be angered by the scale of NHS spending on ‘right-on’ causes.
Elliot Keck, Investigations Campaign Manager at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Many of the networks are a questionable use of NHS time and taxpayers’ money. While Brits wait patiently for their appointments and operations, NHS middle managers are busy organising right-on lectures and social events. Health chiefs need to scale back some of these unnecessary ‘woke’ networks.”
Worth reading in full.
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Next week on the pod we’ve got a listener rant from a nurse. After reading her rant about pay for nurse bursary’s, the massive amount of youngsters who start training then leave because they’re treated like slave labour, the fact if you work hard you get more hours for the same pay – if you sit on your arse you get the same hours but the same pay as a hard worker. Total lack of incentives, waste, borderline corruption. It makes reading this headline and the story around it all the more galling! How can the NHS, which has had funding increase as a part of GDP go up every year, keep complaining about funding when they fritter it away on tosh like this? Like Don said jokingly last week “When I go to hospital I don’t want to be treated – I want to know the doctors and nurses are inclusive!” The fact the NHS is now a religion, blinkers the zealots to the fact it’s failing at almost everything….other than wasting our money… – – – – – If you guys want to hear our latest podcast, then check it out and subscribe below: Ep. 51 BANNED… Read more »
It’s been like that since 1950 – people are just noticing.
Remember folks, all this is happening under a Conservative government. The Conservatives have been in government for 12 years. I suppose it’s a bit like the covid nonsense – it would have been worse under Labour, but you’ve got to ask yourself whether it’s worth voting Conservative, unless and until they become a conservative political force.
Therefore… the country isn’t run by the people that are presented to us at elections.
They are frontmen and women for the people who actually run things.
I thought that much was clear after these 2 and a half years of insanity.
Quite possibly – or they just believe in the nonsense they put in place because they are (relatively speaking) woke metropolitan liberals who care more about what the Guardian and their London dinner party guests think than what their core supporters think – this was a theory set out by Hitchens, speaking about Cameron hating his own party/supporters, which he pretty clearly did (can’t recall the phrase he used about Brexiteers but it was disparaging and snobbish). It’s worth searching for this clip on YouTube – from Question Time: BBC QT – Peter Hitchens Hilarious – YouTube
Worth watching for the profoundly unconservative Justine Greening’s reactions. if the cap fits, wear it luv.
That is generally true at all levels of government. A long time back, one of my (late) colleagues on the Council (while I was a Parish Councillor) made the point that one had to be careful about the boundary between the political members, and the “qualified” pros, such as the Borough Solicitor, planning experts and so on. Very few councillors or ministers are competent to do their own thing, without the civil servants in the background.
I agree Stewart, nothing will make a difference to the trajectory, whoever gets voted in…..
If that hasn’t become clear to people after all of this, I don’t know when it ever will…..just an example, we know that there is increasing and good scientific evidence that the vaccines are doing harm, and that boosters are a problem..which, in a sane world, would at least make people pause….but what happens? We put the same jabs on the children’s vaccination list, and tell everyone over 50 to get one…it’s literally insane, and can only be because these people have huge influence at a political level, and of course follow the money…(or it could be to promote killing people off if you go down that particular path)…either way, what it isn’t is scientific or right or common sense….
It’s no longer worth voting at all. We now live in a one party state.
I think voting for parties whose policies you believe in is worth the small amount of trouble it takes – if you can find them of course. There are a few that seem decent, but they are tiny and are not going to be able to field candidates in every election everywhere.
I vote independent locally now. Last time, the independent in our ward managed to get half the number of votes that the Tory winner did, which was thus a pretty substantial vote for an area where all votes usually go to Labour or Tory!
The NHS (and the civil service in general) appears to function as a massive Keynesian stimulus.
It doesn’t matter how many there are or what they do, just so long as employment is being created and money is circulating (and is being created in the first place — although I suggest the impact on the velocity of money is more important).
That’s not to say that some people in the NHS aren’t of immense value — just that their value doesn’t appear to be the primary purpose of the NHS any more.
I suppose the vaccines (or lockdown, depending on your faith in a benevolent government) then act as the proverbial ‘digging holes and filling holes’ (maybe the broken-window fallacy is a better explanation, with an added component that ‘there are simply too many windows’).
It would appear that about half of the NHS staff do useful things. The rest are there to provide employment to people who couldn’t function in a private business, and to get themselves and their pointless contributions jammed in the path of those that do give value for money.
When people say, as they do, we should sack the Diversity Managers, where on earth are they going to find a job.? It is Europes biggest job creation scheme for the useless..
I know plenty of private businesses where you could easily lose swathes of people without a noticeable drop in productivity, though the NHS is probably worse and at least the private businesses are not doing it (directly) on taxpayers money.
The broken window fallacy reminded me of this: It’s a slow day in some little town…….. The sun is hot….the streets are deserted. Times are tough, everybody is in debt, and everybody lives on credit. On this particular day a rich tourist from back west is driving thru town. He stops at the motel and lays a $100 bill on the desk saying he wants to inspect the rooms upstairs in order to pick one to spend the night. As soon as the man walks upstairs, the owner grabs the bill and runs next door to pay his debt to the butcher. The butcher takes the $100 and runs down the street to retire his debt to the pig farmer. The pig farmer takes the $100 and heads off to pay his bill at the feed store. The guy at the Farmer’s Co-op takes the $100 and runs to pay his debt to the local prostitute, who has also been facing hard times and has had to offer her services on credit. She, in a flash rushes to the motel and pays off her room bill with the motel owner. The motel proprietor now places the $100 back on the… Read more »
…great! I suspect this is more true than we know…..
1 million souds a lot. But it’s a piss in the giant ocean that is the NHS budget.
Just one example but if they really gave a toss about saving money they wouldn’t carry on with the ridiculous mask policies. When masks were only ever used by the theatre dept vs now, with every single member of staff ( even non-clinical or just clinical? I don’t know the deets..) wearing one ( and for what duration before they’re required to change it? ), and don’t they dole them out to patients too?, then that is one hell of a waste of money right there. And most doctors and nurses work 12+hr shifts so surely they can’t be wearing the same one during all that time. No clue of the actual cost of such a high volume of masks but it must be huge compared to pre-Clown World times. It saddens me to say but the NHS has gone from national pride to national shambles. I just feel shame and disappointment with every article I read. It’ll get to the point, if it hasn’t already, that nobody wants to work for them anymore, especially given that their reputation has pretty much gone to the dogs. Dentists, doctors, nurses etc, they’ll all jump ship and no new recruits will go… Read more »
All members of staff have to wear them in some trusts, irrespective of whether clinical or non-clinical role.
Utter & total waste of taxpayers’ cash to stuff the pockets of the already over wealthy & over entitled scum who are purported to be acting in the ‘best interests of the public’. Bit like Bliar, only act in own self-interest & enrichment
I am curious as to whether the NHS also has ‘climate change’ advisors advising on ‘sustainability’. You know, I bet they do, at 50k – 60k a pop.
Yes… this one’s recruiting right now, if you’re interested?
Environment and Sustainability Manager
Estates
Powys Teaching Health Board, Brecon
We are looking for an enthusiastic, skilled and experienced Environment and Sustainability Manager who can work autonomously to deliver outcomes to meet our decarbonisation and environmental priorities and commitments.
Salary: £40057.00 to £45839.00 a year Per annum
Posted: 05/08/2022
Job Type: Permanent
Closing Date: 28/08/2022
Staff Group: Administrative & Clerical
Job Ref: 070-AC108-0622-A
My local NHS is changing meds to ones which have the lowest CO2 footprint without regard for why specific meds have been prescribed. My asthma inhaler was changed from one which doesn’t result in oral thrush to a cheap & nasty one which did so after just two uses!
Soon got it changed back when I informed the GP that the change of drug had resulted in harm….
When your budget exceeds £190 billion, it’s easy to get into the mindset that the odd million here and there doesn’t really matter. It’s the same with not bothering to chase health tourists for payment… and it’s even easier when nobody is held accountable.