ENOUGH TO MAKE YOU SICK!

Health chiefs put flying lessons, go-karting, five-star hotels and even McDonald’s trips on credit cards ... and YOU pay £5.8m bill

HEALTH bosses used taxpayer-funded credit cards to pay for helicopter lessons, go-karting and five-star hotels.

Despite the NHS facing an unprecedented funding crisis, officials have been using the cards to splurge money on luxuries, bars and restaurants.

They have racked up £5.8million worth of spending in the past two years alone. The ‘government procurement cards’ were introduced by Labour in 1997, supposedly to enable senior staff to easily fund office supplies and travel costs.

But a Daily Mail investigation found senior officials in the largest health bodies have been using them in Wetherspoon’s pubs, cocktail bars, bowling alleys and McDonalds.

one chief executive used his card to pay for a private helicopter lesson in the Cotswolds. Keith Conradi, head of the healthcare Safety Investigation Branch, claimed the £562 training day was a necessary part of his job. he has now been ordered to pay the money back. The Mail’s audit also found:

Public health england staff racked up a £310 bill for a ‘smoothie bike’ using pedal-power to blend fruit;

They used the cards to stay at the Altishotel in Lisbon and the Intercontinental hotel in Beijing;

At the Medicines and healthcare products regulatory Agency, the cards were spent in KFC, Starbucks, kebab joints, all-you- can- eat Chinese buffets and pubs;

MHRA employees also used them to buy 253 meals at McDonald’s

splashing a total of £ 1,433 on the fast food.

The cards were initially issued to senior staff as a replacement for invoices. They were meant to ensure more prompt payments for low-cost items such as stationery and computer equipment.

But there is growing evidence they are abused and spent on personal items and frivolities rather than office necessities.

The Mail used the Freedom of Information Act to ask 11 of the largest health bodies and watchdogs for details of their expenses on the cards.

Between them they had issued cards to 692 staff and spent at least £5.8million in the two years since March 2016, although the figure could be higher as some organisations refused to provide all their bills.

The responses show the cards were routinely used to buy groceries, with £24,500 spent in Marks and Spencer, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Waitrose, Asda and Morrisons.

Another £25,100 went on taxis, of which £17,100 was for Public Health England, which advises on healthy lifestyles.

At NHS Blood and Transplant, which oversees organ donations, the cards were used to fund a trip to the Eddie Irvine gokarting centre in Belfast, for ‘teambuilding’. Staff also went on six bowling trips and to a cocktail bar in Bristol. Mean-

‘Frivolously squandered’

while, the NHS is facing its worst funding difficulties in its 70-year history.

It came under huge pressure this winter, with A&E attendance, waiting times and admissions reaching alarming levels in England. Patients are being denied hip replacements and cataract surgeries and GPs have been told to stop handing out common prescription drugs.

Today, the British Medical Association warns the NHS is likely to see the crisis extend into the summer, which it says will be as busy as the winter of 2015 and 2016.

Last night, the Mail’s findings sparked anger, with critics saying money had been ‘squandered’. Mark Littlewood, of the Institute of Economic Affairs think-tank, said: ‘Not only is it outrageous that hardearned taxpayers’ money is being frivolously squandered on stays at plush resorts and pricey restaurants, these revelations smack of brazen hypocrisy.

‘The financial constraints of the NHS is made all the more depressing when we see how carelessly the money is being spent. It’s high time these quangos were held to account.’

Alex Wild, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘Procurement cards are supposed to be used as a costeffective means of buying lowvalue goods and services, but time and time again they’re used as a quick and easy way to rip off taxpayers for life’s luxuries. It’s not credible for NHS bosses to be pleading poverty … while billing taxpayers for stays at some of the world’s most luxurious resorts.’

The Mail found staff at PHE, responsible for tackling obesity, had spent the cards on Domino’s Pizza, a steakhouse and a bakery specialising in pies and cakes. At the same time its officials were lecturing the public to cut back on these foods. A spokesman claimed staff bought only sandwiches and fruit at the bakery to serve as meeting ‘refreshments’.

PHE also used the cards to fund trips to Cuba, California, Florida, and Bangkok in Thailand to attend a physical activity conference.

NHS England, responsible for day-to-day running of the health service, issues the cards to only a handful of staff. But the MHRA gave them to 266 workers and allowed them to pay for meals, snacks and their laundry if they travelled or worked long hours.

Health Education England, the workforce body, redacted three quarters of its card expenses. It refused to explain a restaurant bill of almost £1,000 – the cost of a cataract operation. Among bills they did disclose was almost £560 for a high-end Scottish restaurant and £42 on theatre tickets.

The other bodies were the Department of Health, Care Quality Commission, NHS Improvement, Nice, and the Human Fertility and Embryology Authority.

A Department of Health spokesman said: ‘We have taken steps to ensure money spent on helicopter training has been recouped and will take further action if needed to make sure card holders are crystal clear on the rules.’

PHE chief Duncan Selbie said: ‘Expenses for scientific research, sharing expertise and learning from global best practice are necessary for [employees’] work.’ An MRHA spokesman said staff could claim a ‘small reimbursement’ when away from home.

Last week Theresa May committed to a long-term NHS funding plan after pressure from 100 MPs.

The BMA predicts that, at best, 5.9 million patients will turn up at A&E units from July to September, and 127,000 patients will be left to wait on trolleys. In a worstcase scenario, 6.2million would go to A&E and one in eight would wait more than four hours, including almost 150,000 on trolleys.