Hospital admits bill for art will be £60k (From Sutton Guardian)

Hospital admits bill for art will be £60k

10:49am Wednesday 16th May 2007

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Kingston Hospital revealed yesterday the £18,000 it plans to spend on photography to line the walls of its new surgical centre is only part of a £60,000 art project for the unit.

It has also backtracked on last week's claims that the money was coming out of £34million in private finance being used to build the new surgical centre.

“There will be a lot of angry people on the streets of Kingston that £60,000 is being spent on artwork at a time when the NHS is facing dire financial straights."

Geoff Martin

Now it says the money is from charitable donations to the hospital from the American University of the Caribbean, whose students have received training at the hospital for many years.

The news that £60,000 - £42,000 more than the hospital admitted last week - will be spent on art was revealed after the Surrey Comet received an anonymous letter from an outraged member of staff. The original figure of £18,000 was discovered in an email leaked to pressure group London Health Emergency (LHE) two weeks ago.

Hospital staff and health campaigners expressed alarm and Geoff Martin from LHE said: "I think it is time they got their story straight and were a bit more open.

"There will be a lot of angry people on the streets of Kingston that £60,000 is being spent on artwork at a time when the NHS is facing dire financial straights.

"That money might be a one-off, but it could be used for equipment. It is money that is desperately needed."

The new surgical centre, which is due to open later this year, is being built through a private finance initiative (PFI) and Kingston Hospital will pay for it over a 30-year lease.

£18,000 of the charitable donation has been formally spent on commissioning photography of local people and places. The Surrey Comet is still awaiting a response to last week's offer to use our picture archive free of charge to decorate the hospital.

Deputy chief executive of the hospital Alan Pearse said the donation was a one-off so could not fund a new staff member's annual salary.

He said: "We have an arts group comprising of members of staff, including clinical staff, who have been involved in this project to ensure we are improving the environment for the benefit of all.

"We are continuing to seek commercial sponsorship to support this programme of work."

The hospital added that it has received a "substantial" offer of funding from the Friends of Kingston Hospital. Chairman of the Friends Serge Lourie said: "We are delighted to support improving the hospital environment for patients by helping the hospital to acquire works of art."

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