A FOI request has revealed that a team brought in to solve spending in the NHS in London has gone over its budget.

The team who have proposed to close Lewisham Hospital’s A&E department leading to protests have also received “additional contingency funding” to help them with their work.

The London Evening Standard report:

The “hit squad” sent in to sort out London’s NHS spending crisis has overspent its own budget by more than £1 million.

The Government brought in the team after South London Healthcare NHS Trust (SLHT) racked up huge debts. But it emerged today that the special body has been granted an extra £1.1 million to deal with the problem, on top of the £4 million agreed.

The administrator hired to run SLHT and reduce its £65 million deficit is  Matthew Kershaw, whose proposals to close Lewisham Hospital’s A&E have sparked widespread protests. Campaigners say his draft plans will increase journey times for patients and could put lives at risk.

You can read the full story here. 

Matthew Burgess
http://www.mattburgess.co
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.