In 1981 there were eight NHS press officers in Britain

[Dedworth]

Now there are 82 in London alone: Health Service attacked for spending on PR when frontline services are at risk


The cost of almost £13million would be enough to pay for 600 nurses
Critics say it is outrageous so much is spent on publicity and spin




Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2293019/In-1981-8-NHS-press-officers-Britain-Now-82-London-Health-Service-attacked-spending-PR-frontline-services-risk.html#ixzz2NXi2hfK8

An absolute disgrace :cwm23:

[Jamesey]

That's rich coming from the Daily Mail! :thumbsdown:

The reason that the NHS needs Press Officers is because the media can't be trusted to report the facts without putting their own spin on it! :ReadIt:

[bigmarco]

I don't like bashing the NHS because it's something that we should be quite proud of. But it has to be said that there are a lot of people on an earner out of it that you have to question. As the article says this money would be much better spent on medical doctors rather than spin doctors.
Perhaps it's time for the government to appoint someone to sit down and sort out the waste. Cut the PR bill for starters and do away with translation services and I'm sure millions would be saved.

[Terpe]

I don't like bashing the NHS because it's something that we should be quite proud of. But it has to be said that there are a lot of people on an earner out of it that you have to question. As the article says this money would be much better spent on medical doctors rather than spin doctors.
Perhaps it's time for the government to appoint someone to sit down and sort out the waste. Cut the PR bill for starters and do away with translation services and I'm sure millions would be saved.

Agreed !! :xxgrinning--00xx3:

[Doc Alan]

The situation IS outrageous. The remedy, if not the cure, is for the public to pay less attention to often inaccurate and scaremongering “ stories “ put out by the " news " media. Medically qualified doctors who are capable of good communication would be better than either NHS spin doctors or health journalists.

Dame Sally Davies – Chief Medical Officer for England – is, in my opinion, a good communicator. But she’s hardly a typical doctor, and doesn’t have too much time for her clinical specialty ( blood disorders / haematology ) these days. Similarly, a role of medical directors in NHS trusts - or lead doctors in English Clinical Commissioning Groups - is communication. This is over and above management meetings and ( to retain credibility and sanity ) continuing to work in their chosen medical specialty .

The challenge for doctors to take on these roles is to divide their time between management, clinical duties, and their private life. Clinical duties come first – by default non-medics / spin doctors dominate management, and private life suffers.

[Dedworth]

I like the spin the manage to put on it :--

"The Chartered Institute of Public Relations insisted the use of PR firms by the NHS could save money by raising awareness of health issues"


In their arrogant way they'd have us believe that pre 1990's there was no healthcare advice/education/warnings in the media. If I'm not mistaken one of the biggest campaigns (HIV) kicked off around 1984ish

As has happened with much else of the public sector the blame for this lies fairly and squarely with Labour. They hired legions of spin doctors to disguise failure and waste portraying it instead as success

[andy222]

I don't like bashing the NHS because it's something that we should be quite proud of. But it has to be said that there are a lot of people on an earner out of it that you have to question. As the article says this money would be much better spent on medical doctors rather than spin doctors.
Perhaps it's time for the government to appoint someone to sit down and sort out the waste. Cut the PR bill for starters and do away with translation services and I'm sure millions would be saved.
And they should sort out people like the head of the NHS Nicholson who gets paid hundreds of thousands a year and does not know what is going on the service. And he admitted it himself.

[Dedworth]

And they should sort out people like the head of the NHS Nicholson who gets paid hundreds of thousands a year and does not know what is going on the service. And he admitted it himself.

Agreed - the sooner that slug and the cronies he appointed go the better

[andy222]

I agree there is a lot of waste in the NHS but the government should not target the workers. It is upper management that needs sorting out. There is too many people sitting around and earning big money. I worked on a ward the other night. A ward containing 26 patients. 6 staff. 2 of whom where nurses giving medication out and 4 of working our guts out. That is a true picture. Why the nurses dont help out is beyond me. In the old days when the matrons were about that would not have happened. I see a lot of nurses that think they are god almighty and think they are too qualified to help out with the patients.