NHS spent £140m on management consultants in four years, data show
NHS organisations in England spent more than £140m on management consultants between 2019 and 2023, data show. Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the trade union Unite show that from 2019-20 to 2022-23 NHS England paid out £100m in fees to various consultancy firms, including £59m to a single firm, PA Consulting.1 In the same period local integrated care boards (ICBs) spent £40.4m in consultancy fees. Jackie Applebee, a GP in Tower Hamlets, east London, and vice president of the union Doctors in Unite described the sums being spent as an “outrage.” She said, “Those of us who work in the NHS have a far better idea of what needs to be done to improve …
