Cost of "scandalous" healthcare review soars to £11.5m (From Sutton Guardian)

Cost of BSBV healthcare review soars to £11.5m

9:14am Friday 1st March 2013 in News By Sophia Sleigh, Reporter

The cost of the BSBV review has escalated to £11.5m.

In November last year the review had cost the taxpayer £2m however four months later the review has now cost £5.5m.

With a three month consultation, expected to begin in the summer, the review will cost a further £6m.

The costs of BSBV are expected to rise further after the decisions have been made and they set a budget to support implementation of the plans.

It is estimated that £11.5m would pay for 500 nurses' wages for a year.

Councillor Ruth Dombey, leader of Sutton Council, said: “Wasting £11.5million - enough to pay the wages of hundreds of doctors and nurses - on this flawed process is absolutely scandalous.

"With £11 million we’ve just built a brand new leisure centre with a swimming pool and library.

"It is time the entire project was scrapped and we had a serious discussion about securing the future of healthcare in south west London.”

A spokesperson from BSBV said: "Local clinicians believe it is money we need to spend so that we can deliver better, safer services that are sustainable in the long term."