Incompetent NHS managers must be sacked

SIR – I read with interest that hospitals in Sheffield have saved £2 million by collectively buying items such as surgical gloves (report, April 2).

After the 1973 NHS Reorganisation Act we were told that hospitals needed a host of administrators to manage exactly this sort of problem, as we doctors were incapable of doing so.

The number of managers has since multiplied and there are now more of them than medical staff. What on earth have the managers in Sheffield been doing and how did they fail to identify this cost-saving measure earlier? We need an inquiry, multiple sackings and no revolving doors for re-employment. J C Faux FRCS

Preston, Lancarshire

SIR – Jena Pearson (Letters, April 3) asks why buying in bulk has not been standard practice in hospitals for years.

In fact it was routinely practised for decades but became more difficult when NHS Trusts were formed in 1990. This came with the expectation that Trusts would compete to provide healthcare services. The subsequent Foundation Trust initiative in 2004 further reinforced this organisational separation. Despite this, there are still countless examples of successful joint buying within the NHS.

Ms Pearson also says that no privately run business would allow such a waste of resources. I disagree. Many commercial companies lack centrally organised procurement. Professor Duncan Eaton

Warwick

SIR – When I broke my ankle I was given a rigid plastic boot with Velcro fastenings, three pairs of long white washable socks and a pair of extendable aluminium crutches.

Once my ankle had healed, I thoroughly cleaned the boots, socks and crutches. The hospital, however, said it had no further use for them so I donated them to a charity in India, which was delighted to have them.

Why can’t the NHS have collection points for such items? It would be a simple, money-saving solution. Wendy Tanqueray

Esher, Surrey