A Freedom of Information (FOI) request has revealed that a business trip to Las Vegas for Princess Alexandra Hospital (PAH) NHS Trust staff cost over £58,000.
The Essex-based Trust sent a team, including two Board Directors, to attend a conference which was taking place in the American city. The conference, which took place in September 2023 and was related to health information technology, was held at The Venetian Convention and Expo Center in Las Vegas.
Phil Holland, the hospital’s chief information officer, said that the funding had been agreed upon as part of a business case for the trust’s new electronic patient records system, which it is looking to implement.
He added: “The conference provided us with an opportunity to see Millennium – our solution for Alex Health – being used by other hospitals and for us to better understand the functionality and capability of the product.
“A multi-disciplinary team attended to enable us to capture insights from over 400 sessions that were taking place. This annual conference was the only opportunity to access all parts of the system, its developers and future developments under one roof,” Mr Holland said.
There’s a problem, however. It has since emerged that staff from three other trusts also went to the summit and a related event but either did not pay or kept costs down. Milton Keynes University Hospital (MKUH) sent 14 staff members to attend the “Oracle Health Conference 2023”, which was a separate event run in a nearby venue at the same time.
“Ten of the 14 colleagues in attendance were clinical staff, there to understand industry insights and share best practices,” the trust said. It added: “Staff from MKUH did not pay nor did the trust pay for anyone to attend this event directly.”
The County Durham and Darlington NHS Trust disclosed how four members of its senior management team also went to the Oracle Cloudworld event, incurring costs of just £3,619.
Lastly, two Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust specialists also travelled to Las Vegas to attend the conference, but the trust only incurred expenses of £192.
“All other costs associated with this event (for flights, accommodation and food) were covered by the individuals themselves or by a third party,” it said.
It’s pretty damming for PAH NHS Trust. Quite how they can justify spending in excess of £58,000 – paid by the taxpayer – is anyone’s guess, especially as other Trusts managed a similar feat on a shoestring budget. Unsurprisingly, they have said that they have nothing further to add to their previous statements. Sometimes, silence speaks louder than words.
It comes at a time when there is already a huge spotlight on the NHS. Analysis by the Health Foundation shows that, if current trends continue, the waiting list for routine hospital treatment in England could rise to over 8 million by summer 2024. In fact, the waiting list is now at its highest level since 2007, when records began.
Junior doctors, consultants and nurses striking over pay have exacerbated the problem, and the threat of further industrial action is constantly looming.
Other experts and analysts assert that the NHS is underfunded and, therefore, ill-equipped to provide adequate healthcare to a bulging, ageing and increasingly sickly population. There is perhaps some validity to this argument. However, no increase in funding would be able to keep up with the growing number of people using it, thanks to the current immigration policy.
What is certain is that the NHS is broken, and reckless spending is the exact antithesis of what it needs.
So, how do we fix this mess? The Homeland Party is supporting a call for a moratorium on immigration and the tightening of our refugee laws, thus lessening the burden on the health service and allowing much-needed funds to be replicated to tackle the ever-increasing waiting lists.
We are the first political party to call for an immigration referendum; the people have had enough of the open borders policy, which has put a substantial financial burden on the country’s finances; the electorate deserves to have their voices heard. Clinicians would receive a fair wage commensurate with the duty of care needed – no TikTok videos or ideological endorsements. Lastly, spending would only be greenlit for essential provisions. Obviously, that wouldn’t include Las Vegas trips and rainbow crossings.
