More than £50 million has been forked out on consultants by Peterborough’s three main public authorities in the last four years.
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Some background material here.
Monday 18 July 2011
Thursday 7 July 2011
NHS Peterborough runs up £1.36m bill on consultants
At £1.36 million the city’s PCT, which is in the midst of financial turmoil that has led to millions of pounds worth of budget savings, spent more on consultants than much larger health trusts covering densely-populated areas such as Leeds, Dudley, Leicester and Devon.
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Monday 4 July 2011
Further discussion about consultants at Peterborough City Council
In the context of this story, which tells of a few hundred thousand pounds spent by Peterborough NHS in talking about selling off the old Peterborough City Hospital site, a further debate erupts on the use of consultants at the Council,
Peterborough and Stamford NHS Trust's £600K consultant bill
MORE than £600,000 has already been spent on preparing the Peterborough District Hospital site for sale, before a buyer has even been identified.
Over the past three years, Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has paid out £615,125.96 to consultants Jones Lang LaSalle, formerly known as King Sturge.
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Comments
There are 11 comments to this article
* Newest first
11
bunter
Monday, July 4, 2011 at 05:12 PM
And regarding transformation, that's a buzz word for change, so you're talking about "business change" which doesn't tell us much does it? And could it be the case that the low council tax has anything to do with the fact that the streets are now strewn with litter, where before they were regularly swept, that Council has sold off, for example a large chunk of the Grange to a property developer, and that Council has withdrawn funding from groups such as Goldhay Arts, the centre that supports adults with learning disabilities?
10
bunter
Monday, July 4, 2011 at 04:58 PM
In order to convince people about these "savings" they need to be written down in plain English, showing where the money was being spent, and now isn't being spent, and how that has been achieved without cutting services, and without selling off Council assets, and without creative accounting. If that's too complicated to explain, then people might assume that it's good old fashioned embezzlement. Let's hope for the sake of those involved that it's not, because that always comes out in the end. And of course the fact remains that those many millions have gone into the bank accounts of those consultants, and we have nothing tangible to show for it.
9
799roger
Monday, July 4, 2011 at 03:15 PM
Clarry, I agree, porley designed, rushed into, lack of staff especially on the wards, how can this be resolved, it can't because there is no money, and whatever is raised from PDH it will not cover the shortfall, so it is time for some one to tell us just where we are in this mess.
8
A local chap
Monday, July 4, 2011 at 02:26 PM
Bunter - thanks for repeating my point but in far more words....just to answer 6 and 7. Council costs were £8m, then £6m, latest £5m. I understand that includes things like property work, roads etc However the key point for me has always been that business transformation needs expertise (if easy why have NHS, central govt failed so often to do it) and these people have saved around £68m meaning we have 5th lowest unitary council tax rate in country. The recent review by an independent and a lib dem could not challenge that so I tend to think it has substance.
7
voyager
Monday, July 4, 2011 at 07:16 AM
I seem to recall that there was an article in this newspaper a while ago in which Il Duce Cereste stated that he intended to drive down the cost of consultants, clearly that falls into the 'long on words short on action' category - no surprises there then.
6
bunter
Sunday, July 3, 2011 at 09:01 PM
Local: You're right to say that £615K sounds a lot, because it is a lot. Don't forget there's no hardware there. There are no material costs. That's £615K trousered for timesheets submitted. So if I gave you £1000 a day it would take 21 months to finish giving you £615,000. Trousered by consultants. Gone. That's about a tenner for every household in Peterborough. And that's just the start. They've not done anything yet. And turning to the council, how about the £8 million, or is it £12 million, handed out, every year, to consultants by PCC? If I gave you £1000 a day for 30 years, that would add up to about £11 million. If I wanted to keep up with the consultants, I'd have to hand you £30,000 a day, every day. That's the sort of money we're talking about here, £30 grand a day, going from the pockets of the ratepayers, into the pockets of a handful of consultants. I wonder who signed all this off. But of course we live in a time of austerity, and we're all in it together.
5
A local chap
Sunday, July 3, 2011 at 06:20 AM
Clarry - mm....I think you mean the PCT not PTC? And of course this is the NHS which is a different body. And this is about consultants spend on disposing of the PDH site (which does sound a lot) not building the new hospital. And the PDH site has to be sold to fund the new hospital. And most of the staff and patients seem pretty happy with the new hospital. Other than that...oh, that is everything you said. Well better luck next contribution lol
4
clarry
Sunday, July 3, 2011 at 04:44 AM
Surprise, surprise we all know who was Chair of the PTC for most of this time - our dictator of a Council Leader, but still he remains at the helm of our City. The commonsense way would have been to leave the Edith Cavell standing and use it for clinics, staff residential or other hospital related uses. The new hospital is so badlly planned, especially for the disabled - the car parks are too far away from the hospital building (if you can get a space) and the lift should be next to the hospital entrance (as in Aldermans Drive) and not past all the expensive coffee shops which are NOT essential. Too little thought was put into the whole hospital project on the part of the patients and staff at the expense of lining consultants pockets! Its too late now but surely there is something that can be done to rectify some of this mess?
3
baldrick, from the once great britain
Friday, July 1, 2011 at 10:05 PM
scandalous , shocking disgusting and thats just being polite ,
2
gs61
Friday, July 1, 2011 at 09:34 PM
this is criminal. neither hospital was in disrepair before the city hospital was planned. edith cavell was opened in 1987! and has been demolished to make way for a car park. several floors at city hospital are under repair in under 6 months of use. some of the walls in the wards are cordoned off due to safety fears. just how cheaply was this hospital built, or did they use favoured contractors with a brown envelope kickback? some london hospitals are far more efficient and they were originally built over 100 years ago! answers need
1
J J Carter
Friday, July 1, 2011 at 06:22 PM
Of course, the 'chums' need to get their pockets lined!
Peterborough and Stamford NHS Trust's £600K consultant bill
MORE than £600,000 has already been spent on preparing the Peterborough District Hospital site for sale, before a buyer has even been identified.
Over the past three years, Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has paid out £615,125.96 to consultants Jones Lang LaSalle, formerly known as King Sturge.
Read more
Comments
There are 11 comments to this article
* Newest first
11
bunter
Monday, July 4, 2011 at 05:12 PM
And regarding transformation, that's a buzz word for change, so you're talking about "business change" which doesn't tell us much does it? And could it be the case that the low council tax has anything to do with the fact that the streets are now strewn with litter, where before they were regularly swept, that Council has sold off, for example a large chunk of the Grange to a property developer, and that Council has withdrawn funding from groups such as Goldhay Arts, the centre that supports adults with learning disabilities?
10
bunter
Monday, July 4, 2011 at 04:58 PM
In order to convince people about these "savings" they need to be written down in plain English, showing where the money was being spent, and now isn't being spent, and how that has been achieved without cutting services, and without selling off Council assets, and without creative accounting. If that's too complicated to explain, then people might assume that it's good old fashioned embezzlement. Let's hope for the sake of those involved that it's not, because that always comes out in the end. And of course the fact remains that those many millions have gone into the bank accounts of those consultants, and we have nothing tangible to show for it.
9
799roger
Monday, July 4, 2011 at 03:15 PM
Clarry, I agree, porley designed, rushed into, lack of staff especially on the wards, how can this be resolved, it can't because there is no money, and whatever is raised from PDH it will not cover the shortfall, so it is time for some one to tell us just where we are in this mess.
8
A local chap
Monday, July 4, 2011 at 02:26 PM
Bunter - thanks for repeating my point but in far more words....just to answer 6 and 7. Council costs were £8m, then £6m, latest £5m. I understand that includes things like property work, roads etc However the key point for me has always been that business transformation needs expertise (if easy why have NHS, central govt failed so often to do it) and these people have saved around £68m meaning we have 5th lowest unitary council tax rate in country. The recent review by an independent and a lib dem could not challenge that so I tend to think it has substance.
7
voyager
Monday, July 4, 2011 at 07:16 AM
I seem to recall that there was an article in this newspaper a while ago in which Il Duce Cereste stated that he intended to drive down the cost of consultants, clearly that falls into the 'long on words short on action' category - no surprises there then.
6
bunter
Sunday, July 3, 2011 at 09:01 PM
Local: You're right to say that £615K sounds a lot, because it is a lot. Don't forget there's no hardware there. There are no material costs. That's £615K trousered for timesheets submitted. So if I gave you £1000 a day it would take 21 months to finish giving you £615,000. Trousered by consultants. Gone. That's about a tenner for every household in Peterborough. And that's just the start. They've not done anything yet. And turning to the council, how about the £8 million, or is it £12 million, handed out, every year, to consultants by PCC? If I gave you £1000 a day for 30 years, that would add up to about £11 million. If I wanted to keep up with the consultants, I'd have to hand you £30,000 a day, every day. That's the sort of money we're talking about here, £30 grand a day, going from the pockets of the ratepayers, into the pockets of a handful of consultants. I wonder who signed all this off. But of course we live in a time of austerity, and we're all in it together.
5
A local chap
Sunday, July 3, 2011 at 06:20 AM
Clarry - mm....I think you mean the PCT not PTC? And of course this is the NHS which is a different body. And this is about consultants spend on disposing of the PDH site (which does sound a lot) not building the new hospital. And the PDH site has to be sold to fund the new hospital. And most of the staff and patients seem pretty happy with the new hospital. Other than that...oh, that is everything you said. Well better luck next contribution lol
4
clarry
Sunday, July 3, 2011 at 04:44 AM
Surprise, surprise we all know who was Chair of the PTC for most of this time - our dictator of a Council Leader, but still he remains at the helm of our City. The commonsense way would have been to leave the Edith Cavell standing and use it for clinics, staff residential or other hospital related uses. The new hospital is so badlly planned, especially for the disabled - the car parks are too far away from the hospital building (if you can get a space) and the lift should be next to the hospital entrance (as in Aldermans Drive) and not past all the expensive coffee shops which are NOT essential. Too little thought was put into the whole hospital project on the part of the patients and staff at the expense of lining consultants pockets! Its too late now but surely there is something that can be done to rectify some of this mess?
3
baldrick, from the once great britain
Friday, July 1, 2011 at 10:05 PM
scandalous , shocking disgusting and thats just being polite ,
2
gs61
Friday, July 1, 2011 at 09:34 PM
this is criminal. neither hospital was in disrepair before the city hospital was planned. edith cavell was opened in 1987! and has been demolished to make way for a car park. several floors at city hospital are under repair in under 6 months of use. some of the walls in the wards are cordoned off due to safety fears. just how cheaply was this hospital built, or did they use favoured contractors with a brown envelope kickback? some london hospitals are far more efficient and they were originally built over 100 years ago! answers need
1
J J Carter
Friday, July 1, 2011 at 06:22 PM
Of course, the 'chums' need to get their pockets lined!
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