Red tape costs rises as savings quango cost Labour £37m
The closure of eight arm's-length bodies has cost the Department of Health £32m over the past year while the establishment of four new bodies since November 2004 has cost a further £4.7 million.
The figures came in response to parliamentary questions from shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley on how much has been spent implementing cuts to NHS arm's-length bodies in a process designed to save £500m by 2008-09.
Mr Lansley said the findings showed that 'the cost of rearranging desks has reached £37m thus far, with no discernable reduction in the level of administration and no discernable improvement in the standard of patient care.'
He said in some cases 'such as the axing of one of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Execllence's appraisal committees, the arm's-length body review has potentially damaged patient care'.
The shadow health secretary said the government would do better to abolish the culture of political targets and bureaucracy to support them.
A DoH spokeswoman said such an 'ambitious change programme' had been expected to involve one-off costs, with much of the £32m cost the result of one-off redundancy payments. She said these would be justified by the ongoing savings achieved for redistribution to frontline health and social care.
Since November last year, eight bodies have been wound up: the Family Health Services Appeal Authority, the Health Development Agency, the National Clinical Assessment Authority, the National Radiological Protection Board, the Public Health Laboratory Service, the NHS Information Authority, the Modernisation Agency and the NHSU.
And four bodies have been established: the Health and Social Care Information Centre, the Human Tissue Authority, NHS Connecting for Health and the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement.
http://www.hsj.co.uk/nav?page=hsj.news.story&resource=3506958
The figures came in response to parliamentary questions from shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley on how much has been spent implementing cuts to NHS arm's-length bodies in a process designed to save £500m by 2008-09.
Mr Lansley said the findings showed that 'the cost of rearranging desks has reached £37m thus far, with no discernable reduction in the level of administration and no discernable improvement in the standard of patient care.'
He said in some cases 'such as the axing of one of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Execllence's appraisal committees, the arm's-length body review has potentially damaged patient care'.
The shadow health secretary said the government would do better to abolish the culture of political targets and bureaucracy to support them.
A DoH spokeswoman said such an 'ambitious change programme' had been expected to involve one-off costs, with much of the £32m cost the result of one-off redundancy payments. She said these would be justified by the ongoing savings achieved for redistribution to frontline health and social care.
Since November last year, eight bodies have been wound up: the Family Health Services Appeal Authority, the Health Development Agency, the National Clinical Assessment Authority, the National Radiological Protection Board, the Public Health Laboratory Service, the NHS Information Authority, the Modernisation Agency and the NHSU.
And four bodies have been established: the Health and Social Care Information Centre, the Human Tissue Authority, NHS Connecting for Health and the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement.
http://www.hsj.co.uk/nav?page=hsj.news.story&resource=3506958
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