Nearly £10 billion-worth of personal protective equipment (PPE) bought by the NHS during the pandemic has been written off by the government.
The staggering sum was revealed in the Department of Health and Social Care’s annual report.
Labour has accused Rishi Sunak, who was chancellor at the time, of “throwing away taxpayers’ money as if it were confetti”
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According to the annual report, the government spent £13.6bn on PPE.
Since then “the department has written down the value of its PPE inventory by £9.9 billion because it was unusable or its market price had fallen since it was purchased during the pandemic.”
Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said: “As chancellor, Rishi Sunak threw away taxpayers’ money as if it were confetti and has failed to get our money back. Sunak’s carelessness has cost our country dear.
“Never again can the Conservatives claim to be the careful stewards of the public finances.”
He said Labour would appoint a “Covid corruption commissioner” if it wins the election “to chase down those who ripped off the British taxpayer”.
Lib Dem health spokesperson Daisy Cooper said: “This is a sickening level of waste. Billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money has been poured down the drain because of this Conservative government’s incompetence.
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“To rub salt in the wound, some of this money was wasted on dodgy contracts with Conservative cronies, the vast majority of which has still not been recovered.
“The health secretary should come to parliament and explain how so much taxpayers’ money was frittered away and what is being done to get it back.”
While the UK ADHD population is still grappling with ongoing medication shortages, new research from Mamedica has found that not only are the 2.6 million people diagnosed being left behind but a further 4.5 million Brits believe that they have undiagnosed ADHD.
Undiagnosed ADHD can come with a myriad of complications which leads to a reduction in quality of life for neurodivergent people. According to ADDitude Magazine, undiagnosed ADHD can lead to impulsivity, emotional instability ,and feelings of anger and worthlessness.
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How long are NHS waiting lists for ADHD diagnosis?
Of course, throughout the UK, waiting list times differ but a report by ITV released in October found that in some areas of the UK, adults could be waiting up to 10 years for a diagnosis.
Speaking to ITV, a Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We know how vital it is to have timely diagnoses for ADHD, and we are committed to reducing diagnosis delays and improving access to support.”
Additionally, Sheffield magazine Now Then has reported that in the 12 months between June 2022 and June 2023, only 21 adults received an assessment from The Sheffield Adult Autism and Neurodevelopmental Service (SAANS), which resulted in nine diagnoses.
Now Then stated that with 5,481 service users on the waiting list at the end of the same period, with current assessment rates, it would take 261 years to get through the current waiting list.
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How this crisis is affecting women
According to the ADHD Foundation, 50-75% of the women in the UK with ADHD are undiagnosed, and as a result may be experiencing poor health and socio-economic outcomes.
While awareness of ADHD in women and girls has improved in recent years, ADDitude Magazine warns that there is still a lot of information gaps with professionals such as teachers and gynaecologists.
They said: “We now know that fluctuating female hormones worsen ADHD symptoms, yet this important issue is largely neglected. Gynaecologists are not educated about ADHD; psychiatrists don’t study the effects of female hormones on the condition; and many females feel minimised and mistreated.”
How is the ADHD diagnosis crisis being tackled?
The shortage in medication has led to doctors in England being told to not prescribe new patients with ADHD medication but this is expected to be resolved by December. From there, it is up to individual health boards to tackle backlogs.
However, back in May of this year, MPs on the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) called on the government to prioritise tackling NHS waiting lists to assess people who could have the disorder.
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Tory MP James Sunderland, a vice chair on the APPG, said to PoliticsHome that he wants the government to “throw the kitchen sink” at tackling NHS backlogs relating to ADHD, particularly for school-aged children.
Health secretary Steve Barclay has said trans people will be banned from male-only and female-only hospital wards.
Speaking to the Conservative Party conference in Manchester on Tuesday, he said the NHS constitution will be amended following a consultation later this year to bring in the change.
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Barclay said this would respect the “privacy, dignity and safety of all patients” and “recognise the importance of different biological needs and protect the rights of women”.
“I know as Conservatives, we know what a woman is and I know the vast majority of hardworking NHS staff and patients do too,” he told Tory members.
“To deliver the long-term change the NHS needs, we need a relentless focus on patient outcomes and that means prioritising frontline resources.
“It does not mean spending huge sums of taxpayer’s money on diversity consultants or hiring bloated internal diversity and inclusion teams.”
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Barclay also said he had ordered a reversal of changes to the NHS website that removed references to women for conditions such as cervical cancer.
And he said the NHS had been told to stop telling staff to declare pronouns to each new patient.
The move is the latest in a long-line of Conservative policies aimed at what many in the party like to brand “woke” id.
Elliot Colburn, the MP for Carshalton and Wallington, told a meeting on the fringes of the conference to “drop this hardcore rhetoric and we have to drop it now”.
“I want to make one thing perfectly clear to our Conservative colleagues. We will not win the next general election fighting with the LGBT+ community,” he said.
Official figures revealed that 7.7 million people are now waiting for NHS treatment in England, up from 7.6 million a month ago.
Sunak is also struggling to keep his other promises to halve inflation, bring down the national debt and stop asylum seekers crossing the Channel in small boats.
Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said: “For millions of patients across England, the NHS is no longer there for them when they need it.
“On the NHS, Rishi Sunak is Inaction Man, refusing to meet with doctors to end NHS strikes and adding to the Conservatives’ NHS backlog, leaving patients waiting for months on end in pain and agony.”
BBC Radio 4′s Mishal Husain suggested the government has no choice but to resolve NHS strikes in a tense interview with the health secretary this morning.
The Today programme host pointed out that – just as junior doctors and consultants are about to go on strike simultaneously – the impact on NHS patients is getting worse.
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Husain said the latest figures show the waiting lists to be at record levels at 7.6 million people waiting to start routine treatment.
The presenter asked: “How can you do that without resolving doctors’ strikes?”
Barclay replied: “There’s no question that the strikes are having an impact in terms of harming patients.
“Now, we have been making progress through our recovery plan, backed with £8 billion of investment.”
He said they had eliminated the two-year wait for treatment, and “virtually” eliminated the 18-month wait.
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Husain pointed out: “The overall figure is at a record number!”
Barclay replied: “No, no, I’m accepting that the overall number on the waiting lists has increased.”
He went on to say that the government has boosted the NHS’s capacity with community diagnostic centres.
But Husain just asked again: “What’s your plan to end the doctors’ strike?”
The health secretary insisted that the government has offered a “fair and final” resolution, accepted the pay review bodies’ suggestion for a pay increase and implemented the BMA union’s “number one ask” to change pension and taxation.
“But the strikes are going on,” Husain cut in. “I think most people would probably look at this and think that your plan is basically based around hoping that the doctors give up. There’s absolutely no sign of that.
“How can you possibly meet your waiting list pledge, the PM’s waiting list pledge, without resolving this strike?”
Barclay said the government had also promised to bring down inflation, and that was another pledge Sunak made in January.
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He also claimed that the strikers’ pay rise request was too high, and he had stay fair to other public sector workers.
Husain then tried once more, pointing out: “You’ve got a specific pledge on waiting lists to bring them down – and they’re going up.”
But, the health secretary just suggested once again the pay rise request from junior doctors is not “fair” for others.
Tens of thousands of children are set to receive hospital-level care at home as part of an expansion of virtual wards on the NHS.
The announcement is set to come from NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard on the 75 anniversary of the health service.
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The ‘hospital at home’ service will cover children in every region of England from this month, after successfully treating more than 6,400 children in a pilot scheme over the last year.
Pritchard said the NHS virtual wards programme has “provided peace of mind” to parents who have used them during trials, including in Blackpool, Dudley and Dorset.
What is a virtual ward and how does it work?
Virtual wards allow patients to get hospital-level care at home safely and in familiar surroundings, helping speed up their recovery while freeing up hospital beds.
Children on a virtual ward would be cared for by a multi-skilled team who can provide a range of tests and treatments, including blood tests, prescribing medication or administering fluids through an intravenous drip.
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They would be reviewed daily by the clinical team and the ‘ward round’ may involve a home visit or take place through video calls.
Many virtual wards use technology like apps, wearables and other medical devices enabling clinical staff to easily check in and monitor patients’ recovery.
Children will be treated for a range of conditions like respiratory illness, such as asthma, and heart conditions, but from the comfort of their homes.
How is it helping children?
In Blackpool, almost 200 children have been treated on a paediatric virtual ward.
Hope Ezard, who is 21 months old, is one of them. She was born prematurely at just 29-weeks and has a rare neurodevelopmental disorder, GNB5, as well as chronic lung disease and feeding issues.
Hope has been in and out of hospital for most of her life to be treated for recurring respiratory infections, and to receive high-pressure oxygen and antibiotics.
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The introduction of the virtual ward meant Hope could be moved home sooner.
Hope’s mum, Sarah, 39, said being able to receive care at home “is so beneficial to Hope, and our other children”.
“We know that in general, Hope doesn’t sleep very well when she’s in hospital and is more vulnerable to hospital infections, so there is peace of mind when she’s being cared for at home, on the virtual ward,” she said.
“She’s less likely to pick up anything that might make her more poorly, and she’s relaxed and comfortable in her own bed.
“And the fact that the brilliant community nurses are just a phone call away reduces any anxieties that we might have had.”
In Dudley, mum Anum Shazady praised the virtual ward for keeping her son out of hospital, with twice daily calls from NHS staff.
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Anum said: “Now my son is on the virtual ward I can record his observations as many times as I want throughout the day, recording them onto the virtual ward pad and a member of staff calls me twice daily which reassures me that he is safe in our home environment.
“The new virtual ward is great for me and my family as it stops my son staying in hospital longer than he needs.”
Why are they expanding the scheme?
The ultimate aim is to free up hospital beds – especially ahead of winter.
NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard said: “Virtual wards are already providing excellent care to families when their children are sick, and this expansion will enable thousands more to receive high quality care from home.
“Being treated at home can have a hugely positive impact on patients – it means they receive hospital-level care, but it also means they are not separated from their families – providing peace of mind for loved ones.
“As we look to the next 75 years of the NHS, we will continue to embrace the latest technologies and innovations to meet the changing needs of patients while ensuring that care is as convenient as possible.”
Steve Barclay was left squirming by Sophy Ridge as he failed to explain how the Tories will pay for a major NHS spending boost.
The Sky News presenter repeatedly asked the health secretary where the £2.4 billion to recruit thousands more doctors and nurses will come from.
Rishi Sunak unveiled the long-awaited NHS workforce plan on Friday.
Asked by Ridge how the government would find the money, Barclay would only say it would be “through the Treasury” but refused to give any specifics.
Ridge responded: “What does that mean though? Is that more money for your department or are you going to have to find it from existing NHS budgets or is it borrowing? Where is it coming from?”
In a rambling answer, Barclay said: “This is additional money, it will be announced in the usual way through fiscal events.”
Ridge hit back: “I haven’t heard any new tax rises or spending cuts so I’m assuming it sounds like it must be extra borrowing.
″A hundred per cent of GDP – that the current level of debt. Interest rates rising, so the cost of servicing debt is going up – is that really responsible?
“If Labour announced a policy of £2.4 billion without saying where that money was coming from you would be after them like a rocket.”
Barclay said the policy would also improve the retention of NHS staff, thereby saving money on hiring agency workers.
Nurses are to intensify their campaign of industrial action after rejecting the government’s latest pay offer.
The Royal College of Nursing announced that its members had voted by 54% to 46% against a deal to end the long-running dispute. Turnout was 61%.
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A 48-hour strike by RCN members – including staff in emergency departments, intensive care units and cancer care units for the first time – will now take place from April 30 until May 2.
They have already taken part in six days of strikes since December, and a further ballot for more walkouts later in the year will now take place, the union said.
It is a huge blow for Rishi Sunak, who has made ending the wave of industrial disputes across the public sector one of his key priorities.
The RCN had recommended that its members accept the offer of a 5% pay rise this year and a one-off cash payment for last year.
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In a letter to health secretary Steve Barclay, RCN general secretary Pat Cullen said: “What has been offered to date is simply not enough.
“The government needs to increase what has already been offered and we will be highly critical of any move to reduce it.”
She added: “Until there is a significantly improved offer, we are forced back to the picket line.
“Meetings alone are not sufficient to prevent strike action and I will require an improved offer as soon as possible. In February, you opened negotiations directly with me and I urge you to do the same now.
“After a historic vote to strike, our members expect a historic pay award.”
However, a separate ballot of nurses who are members of Unison, which closed this afternoon, overwhelmingly backed the government’s pay offer.
More than 150,000 nurses took part in the ballot – a 52% turnout – with 74% voting to accept the deal and 26% rejecting it.
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Sara Gorton, Unison’s head of health, said: “Clearly health workers would have wanted more, but this was the best that could be achieved through negotiation.”
She added: ”“This vote might end Unison’s dispute, but it doesn’t solve the wider staffing emergency affecting every part of the NHS. Now, the government must work with unions to bring about a sustained programme of investment in the workforce.
“Lessons must also be learned. The mistakes of the past few months cannot be repeated. It’s time for a whole new approach to setting pay across the NHS.”
A key meeting of all six NHS unions is due to take place on May 2, at which it will be decided whether they should all accept the pay deal.
A government spokesperson said: “It is hugely disappointing that the Royal College of Nursing membership has rejected the pay deal recommended by their leadership.
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“Following constructive discussions, all parties agreed this was a fair and generous offer which is demonstrated by Unison, representing the largest share of the NHS workforce, choosing to accept it.
“The fact that the Royal College of Nursing has announced an escalation in strike action, based on a vote from the minority of the nursing workforce, will be hugely concerning for patients.
“Hundreds of thousands of staff continue to vote in ballots for other unions over the next two weeks and we hope this generous offer secures their support.”
The RCN result came just hours after the Prospect union, which represents civil servants, announced that its members will strike on May 10 and June 7 after rejecting a fresh pay offer from ministers this morning.
Junior doctors took to picket lines across the UK today as they began a three-day strike in their long-running pay dispute with the government.
The British Medical Association rejected a last-ditch appeal by health secretary Steve Barclay for them to enter into fresh negotiations in an attempt to avert the walkout.
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The unions says junior doctors’ pay has fallen in real terms by 26% since 2008/09 and are demanding “full pay restoration”.
Professor Stephen Powis, medical director of NHS England, said it would be “the most disruptive set of industrial action days that we’ve seen all winter”.
But the striking medics say their action is necessary to force the government’s hand.
Here is what some of those striking have been saying from the picket line.
Speaking outside the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, junior doctor Shivam Sharma told the Press Association: “Junior doctors have faced a massive 26% real-terms pay cut over the last 15 years.
“We are not worth 26% less, we don’t do 26% less work, we don’t see 26% less patients. In fact, the work has only gotten harder.
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“Currently, 50% of junior doctors are struggling to pay rent, mortgage and bills, and 50% are having to borrow money from friends and family just to make ends meet.
“If you or I were going into hospital critically unwell, we couldn’t want our junior doctor to be worrying about how they’re going to pay their bills.
“So something has to be done – we have to value doctors here if we are going to keep them.”
Paul Smith, a first-year surgical trainee at the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “I started in my training post in August last year and I’ve spent £3,000 on course fees, professional fees and exams. We can claim some tax back but I’ve still got to pay that upfront.
“Me and my partner managed to save up enough money to buy a house locally and we found a hole in the roof last week.
“We’re genuinely struggling to find the money to fix that at the moment.”
Speaking from the picket line at University College Hospital in London, Rebecca Lissman, 29, a trainee in obstetrics and gynaecology, said: “I still want to work for a service that’s free at the point of use when I’m a fully qualified consultant. We want a health service that works for everyone and that’s why I’m here today.
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“We can’t give people the service they deserve and see them as quickly as they need because we are so stretched.
“I want to be in work, looking after people, getting trained. I don’t want to be out here striking but I feel that I have to.”
“Junior doctors have faced a massive 26% real-terms pay cut over the last 15 years. We are not worth 26% less, we don’t do 26% less work, we don’t see 26% less patients.”
Edward Finn, an anaesthetist registrar at the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “If you look at the overall cost of living, wages that haven’t kept up with that, and we don’t go out for meals, we don’t do anything.
“My wife and I are both part-time – we couldn’t afford to be full-time with the cost of childcare – but we still have to do the occasional extra shift on top of our contracted hours to keep up with things like the electricity bill.
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“When you’re talking about somebody who’s been a doctor for 12 years, it’s quite sad really, isn’t it?”
Striking junior doctor Martin Whyte, on the picket line in Newcastle, said the public understood the need for the industrial action.
“We used to say anything above four hours was a breach but we have missed that target so overwhelmingly now, it’s almost not worth counting.
“These systems are failing chronically and I think the public understand that.
“They know steps have to be taken to address that, and that starts with better retention of staff and for that you need better pay. We are seeing a lot of attrition from the workforce.”
The 36-year-old said newly qualified doctors used to talk about the specialism they hoped to work in, adding: “Now when I talk to them they say ‘I’m going to go to Australia’, ‘I’m going to go to Canada’, or ‘I’m going to quit medicine all together’, because the pay relative to the work and the intensity and the hours just doesn’t add up.”
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Striking NHS junior doctors on the picket line outside Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital in Norwich, as the British Medical Association is holding a 72-hour walkout in a dispute over pay. Picture date: Monday March 13, 2023.
Joe Giddens via PA Wire/PA Images
Speaking on a picket line at Leeds General Infirmary, Dr Chris Morris, doctor and British Medical Association rep, said: “It’s really reassuring when members of the public do go past honking their horns, giving us messages of support. It reemphasises why we’re doing this.”
“I don’t think anyone has taken this decision lightly. It’s the last thing we want to do as doctors but we feel that we’ve pushed into this decision by the government.”
Steve Barclay said he wanted to “engage” with the junior doctors to reach an agreement to end the strikes.
He said other health unions had agreed to hold pay talks with him and he called on the BMA to do so “as a matter of urgency”.
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It marks a change of tone from December, when Barclay said he could not offer NHS staff more money.
Downing Street has been accused of “quietly editing” one of Rishi Sunak’s five new promises to voters.
The prime minister unveiled the pledges in a major speech setting out his plans for 2023.
They included a vow to halve inflation this year, grow the economy and cut hospital waiting lists.
Sunak said: “No tricks, no ambiguity – we’re either delivering for you or we’re not.”
The original version of the announcement published on the government website after Sunak made his speech on Wednesday says: “By March, NHS waiting lists will fall and people will get the care they need more quickly.”
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The fourth bullet point claims waiting lists will fall “by March”.
UK government
However, visitors to the same page are now told that it was “updated” on Thursday and the March reference has been removed.
That pledge now says: “NHS waiting lists will fall and people will get the care they need more quickly.”
The page has since been edited and the March reference removed.
UK government
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Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting told HuffPost UK: “Just 48 hours after promising the British people a series of cast-iron promises, Sunak is already quietly editing the small print.
“The longer we give the Conservatives in power, the longer patients will wait.”
Answering questions from journalists after his speech, the PM said: “By spring of next year, we will have practically eliminated those waiting over a year, with the overall waiting list falling.”
A Downing Street source said the target for bringing waiting lists down is March 2024, and the government website had been edited to avoid any confusion.
HuffPost UK can also reveal that former health secretary Sajid Javid first made the March 2024 vow almost a year ago.
Speaking last February, he said: “Assuming half of the missing demand from the pandemic returns over the next three years, the NHS expect waiting lists to be reducing by March 2024.
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“Addressing long waits is critical to the recovery of elective care and we will be actively offering longer waiting patients greater choice about their care to help bring these numbers down.”
