Union bosses and health experts have slammed as “outrageous” findings that reveal health bosses have forked out a whopping £17.6 million to management consultants who are drawing up strategies for Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs).
Firms including KPMG, McKinsey and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) have made millions of pounds from the plans which earmark cuts to departments and could lead to the closure or downgrade of NHS hospitals.
The STPs have been created in 44 regions in a bid to revolutionise services while saving money in the face of an expected £900 million NHS deficit this year. The Press Association used the Freedom of Information Act to ask clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) how much has been spent on management consultants to formulate the plans.
Staffordshire had the fifth highest spend in the list of regions, with £783,810 spent on consultants, which could pay for 36 new fully qualified nurses, if recruited on a starting salary of £21,692 each.
Read more at the Burton Mail, 22nd March 2017