£1.8bn 'Wasted' On NHS Redundancy Payments

The Department of Health has been accused of "spending money like confetti" on NHS redundancy payments.

Figures reveal redundancy payoffs amounted to nearly £2bn during the Government's restructuring programme over the last five years.

More than 5,500 people who were made redundant since 2010 have been re-employed elsewhere in the NHS, despite some receiving severance payments of more than £200,000.

Since the shake-up, redundancies have cost £1.8bn for more than 44,000 lay-offs and in 2014-15 alone some £220m was spent on payoffs for staff.

Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham told Sky News: "Today the figures hit a new high - £1.8bn wasted.
"And what are doctors to make of this? No wonder morale in the NHS is at rock bottom."

He added: "This was a reorganisation that didn't need to happen.

"They've thrown money at redundancies, given people payoff cheques like confetti at the NHS at a time when we're not doing right by the staff of the National Health Service."

The Government has pledged to cap public sector redundancy payments at £95,000 - but the figures show, in the last five years, over 3,000 staff received more than £100,000.

Of those, 475 received amounts above £200,000. All this came while nurses were experiencing either a pay freeze or a below inflation pay cap of 1%.

The Government argues that the controversial restructuring has saved more money than expected and helped reduce bureaucracy by a third, allowing them to employ more frontline staff.

A Department of Health Spokesman told Sky News: "New figures this week actually showed that our changes saved far more than expected at £6.9bn, and cost less than originally estimated.

"Labour oppose these reforms, but won't say how they would afford the 9,000 more doctors and 8,500 more nurses that the NHS can employ as a result."
http://news.sky.com/story/1525327/1-8bn-wasted-on-nhs-redundancy-payments
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i wonder how many jobs that money would have paid for do you want any more proof the torys are privatising the NHS by stealth

That is just scary because it is so calculated, now they will be taxing every living person for funding a NHS that is totally changing, changing into what, that is the big question.

i tried to find out how much is gathered in NI alone

But its lumped in with other taxes and i am not great at making sense all thous figures as presented on HMRC web site
anybody know ?