The New Dark Age

11 November 2014 — 38 Degrees

Could Jeremy Hunt’s NHS executives be wasting millions of pounds of our money? For weeks, NHS England – the people he put in charge of our NHS – have been promising to show how they are spending our money. They said they’d publish their receipts by 1st November, but we’re still waiting. [1]

The NHS is in a financial crisis, so services are being cut and doctors and nurses are being told to make massive savings. [2] But we’re not being told how NHS England executives in HQ are spending huge chunks of our money. [3] Are they directing money away from where it’s needed most?

38 Degrees members are teaming up with transparency campaigners Spinwatch to uncover the truth. If enough of us sign the petition to NHS England today, the public pressure could force them to open up. Together, we can get them to commit to the transparency they claim to champion.

Please click here to sign the petition and demand transparency from NHS England:

SIGN THE PETITION

Here’s what Spinwatch say:

“Since May 2010, government departments and their agencies have published monthly reports on all their spending over £25,000. This was a commitment to transparency. But unlike all other government agencies, NHS England has never published details of where its money is going.”

So, how much are NHS bosses paying consultants and lobbying firms? [4] Is there a revolving door between big business and the people making NHS policy? We have a right to check that the people at the top are spending our money wisely. Without these figures, we’ll never know.

38 Degrees members have held NHS England to account before. Together, earlier this year we got them to commit to publishing details of meetings with private companies. [5] Now we can do it again. Let’s build a huge people-powered petition to hand to NHS bosses – and throw this issue into the spotlight.

Call on NHS England Chief Exec Simon Stevens to tell us where our money is going. What’s he got hiding in his pandora’s box of receipts?

SIGN THE PETITION 

Thanks for being involved,

Blanche, Amy, Robin, Ali and the 38 Degrees team

NOTES:
[1] Spinwatch: NHS England: how are you spending our money?
http://www.spinwatch.org/index.php/issues/lobbying/item/5696-nhs-england-how-are-you-spending-our-money
[2] The Guardian: NHS faces mounting financial crisis as deficit heads towards £1bn:
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/sep/15/nhs-financial-crisis-deficit-1bn-hospitals
The Independent: NHS in crisis: English health service runs £500m deficit in just three months:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/nhs-in-crisis-english-health-service-runs-500m-deficit-in-just-three-months-9744702.html
[3] UK Parliament website: Arm’s-length government confused, opaque and unaccountable, says PASC:
http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/public-administration-select-committee/news/report-accountability-of-quangos/
[4] The Guardian: The Guardian: NHS hires drugmaker-funded lobbyist:
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/feb/11/nhs-hires-drugmaker-lobbyists
[5] 38 Degrees blog: NHS England petition hand-ins in York, Leicester, London and Basingstoke:
http://blog.38degrees.org.uk/2014/06/18/nhs-england-petition-hand-ins-in-york-leicester-london-and-basingstoke/