Thursday 21 June 2012

Mascot Watch 17: If You Don't Ask ...

It's been a while since the last update on our esteemed mascot, but he has been on top form this week.

Yesterday, along with DK's mascot and others, he presented a bill to repeal the European Communities Act 1972. Who needs a referendum when you can just sweep away our membership of the EU with a simple vote in parliament, eh? Bravo!

Its second reading is scheduled for October 26th, at which point I expect it'll be summarily squashed by the might of parliamentarians scared of losing future EU perks and pensions. Still, it was worth a go.

Our Phil has also brought some interesting figures to our attention regarding the NHS.
Philip Davies (Shipley, Conservative)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people employed in the NHS are earning more than £100,000 per annum.
Brace yourself, folks.
Simon Burns (Minister of State (Health), Health; Chelmsford, Conservative)

Information is not held centrally on the salaries of national health service staff.

The Government Actuary's Department estimate that, as at 2008, 36,000 NHS Pension Scheme members had whole time equivalent pensionable pay of over £100,000.
Yes, that's three zeroes following the 36. Many of whom are probably on strike today.

And what proportion of those highly-paid NHS personnel are front line staff? Over to our Phil again.
Philip Davies (Shipley, Conservative)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total cost was of salaries in the NHS for (a) medical staff and (b) non-medical staff in the latest period for which figures are available.

Simon Burns (Minister of State (Health), Health; Chelmsford, Conservative)

Information on aggregate national health service salaries broken down by staff group is not held centrally.

It is estimated that in 2010-11 aggregate earnings for hospital and community health services were around £7.9 billion for medical staff and around £28.3 billion for non-medical staff, of which, the basic earnings element is estimated at around £5.9 billion for medical staff and around £25.1 billion for non-medical staff.
So, around four to five times more money is spent on non-medical staff than those working with patients.

That's one hell of an overhead the NHS is carrying!


6 comments:

Patsynurse said...

I wonder how much of that non medical money is given to ASH bearing in mind that even their interns get above the national mim wage at £8.50 an hour 
http://www.w4mpjobs.org/JobDetails.aspx?jobid=35169 

Dick the Prick said...

That's thoroughly mental. I know Connecting for Health, the £14bn circle jerk that has had virtually no successful outcomes is getting rolled into Dept of Health and the NHS Info centre to form some non exec gov dept with a turnover of God alone knows what. Couple that with PCT reorgs into Clinical Commissioning Groups which no-one knows anything about and it's a licence to print cash. Ho hum.

Jay said...

Happening everywhere - in every sodding area of the private sector you have non-productive (ie non-wealth producing) leeches strangling business.  It's normally masked as 'compliance'.  In the NHS, you have admin contributing sod all to the objectves of the organisation and who dictate policy driven by barely concealed financial targets to the clinical staff.

O/T but article in the Daily Wail yesterday claiming that doctors are interpreting the 'Care Pathway' to mean they can murder (they wouldn't, of course, express it that way)  elderly hospital in-patients because they're no more than bed-blockers.  We've come a long, long way from the ethical interpretation of the hypocratic oath.  These are of course, the same people who are hounding the young to not jeopardise their tax-producing drone potential by indulging in smoking, drinking, eating salt etc etc.

fatsadman said...

Is it known whether the 70-odd % of GPs who are not directly employed by the NHS are included in both these sets of statistics?  If not the first set would be even more offensive although the second would show a better balance between quacks and pen-pushers. 

Dick_Puddlecote said...

Very good point, FSM. 

Sam Duncan said...

So wait... the great National Health Service, envy of the world, run by those selfless Men in Whitehall for the benefit of mankind, doesn't actually know how much we're paying its staff? Time for the shareholder spring to hit them, surely? Why should PLCs get all the fun? (And while we're at it, have at the BBC too...)

Jay, I'm given to understand (although there's a good chance I've been misinformed*) that they don't even take the Hippocratic Oath any more. It would certainly explain a lot...

*Tch, the internet, eh?