Land sale can net NHS £1bn

THE NHS could save £1 billion if it sold off surplus land, a Government report has found, after concluding that hospitals are devoting as little as one third of their space to patients. The head of the review told The Daily

Telegraph that the worst hospitals were operating a “Soviet-style model” that failed to put the needs of patients or taxpayers first.

Lord Carter of Coles said the NHS could release a total £5 billion a year in savings if hospitals streamlined their ways of working, to tackle a tenfold variation in their running costs. The national investigation found that some hospitals were devoting as much as 69 per cent of their space to “non-clinical” purposes, with many buildings left empty or devoted to offices for administration.

The Labour peer, asked by Jeremy Hunt to review productivity and performance, said “slack attitudes” in the NHS had allowed office space to expand while wards were left mothballed.

Lord Carter said “a significant amount of surplus land” in the NHS should now be sold off, and the use of

existing buildings reviewed. Up to £1 billion could be released simply by selling off unused land and buildings, and making better use of others.

At the worst trusts, just 31 per cent of space was used for “clinical” purposes, such as wards, operating theatre and-clinic. On average, 43 per cent of hospital space was found to be being used for office space and staffrooms.

A separate report by the National Audit Office has highlighted a shortage of 50,000 doctors and nurses, despite a six-fold rise in nurses coming to Britain from other EU countries in the past decade. Lord Carter said the NHS had to give the needs of patients a higher priority. He called for the wider introduction of “call centre” models to make it easier for patients to book hospital appointments.

Mr Hunt said: “This ground-breaking review will help hospitals care for patients, making sure every penny possible is spent on front-line patient care and bureaucracy is slashed.”

A top heart surgeon, who was vilified by health chiefs and sacked after he exposed NHS failings, won £1.22million damages yesterday. Raj Mattu’s vindication comes 15 years after he spoke out about his concerns for patient safety.