London hospitals spent £13m on public relations in the last three years a Freedom of Information request has found. 

The BBC report: 

The NHS in London spent almost £13m on public relations in the last three years, a BBC London investigation has found – enough to recruit 600 nurses.

Some £9.7m went on press officers’ salaries at hospitals and primary care trusts (PCTs), while private PR companies were paid a further £3m.

Critics called for “medical doctors not spin doctors”, pointing to longer waiting times and cancelled operations.

You can read the full story here. 

I am a journalist and author. I am a journalist at the UK edition of WIRED magazine. In 2015, my first book Freedom of Information: A Practical Guide for UK Journalists, was published. My second book Reed Hastings: Building Netflix, was published in March 2020. I created FOI Directory in 2012 and have maintained it in my spare time ever since.