Spending on equality and diversity has increased by 40 per cent in Scotland’s cash-strapped NHS
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Scotland’s crisis-hit NHS is accused of wasting millions of pounds on “flim-flam and mumbo-jumbo” after its diversity and equality staff numbers soared by more than 40 per cent in five years.
The health service is spending more than £2.3 million per year on now 50 workers in dedicated equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) roles across Scotland, figures obtained by the Telegraph show.
The total is up from 35 in 2019.
Some of the most senior NHS equality tsars earn salaries of over £80,000 per year.
Spending on the positions has dramatically expanded at the same time that waiting lists have soared to record levels and cash for other areas of the health service slashed.
Last week it emerged that all significant NHS Scotland building projects were to be put on hold for at least two years due to cash shortages, placing major doubts over the future of new national treatment centres which had been promised to tackle treatment backlogs.
Stephen Kerr, the Scottish Tory MSP, labelled the spending “bonkers” and urged SNP ministers to instead order health boards to focus on patients.
“The thousands of people in Scotland waiting to see someone in a hospital will be despairing at the priorities of the SNP Government,” Mr Kerr said.
“They are wasting millions on flim-flam and mumbo-jumbo rather than focusing 100 per cent of their energy and resources on patients and front-line services.”
NHS chiefs in England being ordered to cut back on the “woke” roles and instead divert cash to frontlines.
However, the SNP Government backed the spending, claiming that “fostering an inclusive culture” would benefit patients and staff.
Separately, the Scottish Government spends more than £4 million a year on EDI civil servants, including three directors on annual salaries of £117,800.
Mr Kerr added: “Thanks to the SNP’s catastrophic mismanagement of the NHS, Scotland has the lowest cancer-survival rates in Europe. A&E waiting times are the worst ever. Hospital staff are leaving the NHS because of the intolerable workload and stress.
“And yet, the SNP choose to spend millions on roles that do nothing to increase capacity and cut waiting times.
“It’s time we stop the madness and put our focus into what the people of Scotland pay their taxes for – well-run public services.”
Drive to become an ‘anti racist organisation’
Recent examples of work carried out by equality and diversity departments include launching a programme of “reparations” to make amends for historic links to slavery at NHS Lothian.
The health board is organising a dedicated equality and diversity conference next month as part of its drive to become an “anti-racist organisation”.
Equality and diversity staff have also been involved in shaping a series of controversial policies around transgender issues. This includes guidance in Ayrshire and Arran which compared women concerned at sharing wards with male-bodied trans patients to racists and homophobes.
The figures, obtained through Freedom of Information requests, show a wide disparity in the number of equalities staff employed across the country. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde employs 10, at a cost of more than £500,000. The health board said the team helped it meet legal obligations and developed “tools” to help hospitals deliver “equalities sensitive care.”
NHS Education for Scotland employs seven, with activities including organising “lunchtime events” for staff. Despite being one of Scotland’s smallest health boards, NHS Forth Valley has a department of five EDI staff, costing £243,000. Meanwhile, NHS Tayside has a team of seven, up from four in 2019, costing £330,660 a year.
However, NHS Borders has no staff member solely dedicated to equality and diversity, while NHS Highland, which covers an area much larger than Wales, has only one.
‘Move resources to the front line’
Sue Webber, the Scottish Tory MSP, said: “While the principle of equality, diversity and inclusion is important, the amount of money being spent on these posts – especially when the NHS is under immense pressure and hardworking staff are struggling to keep up with demand – will raise questions.
“The SNP Government must ensure money going to our NHS is being spent where the need is most pressing for suffering patients and dedicated staff.”
In October, Steve Barclay, then UK Health Secretary, told trusts in England to stop “actively recruiting” for EDI roles and to “move resources from the back office to the front line”. He raised fears that money was being wasted promoting “woke ideology”.
Asked about the spending in Scotland, a Scottish Government spokesman said: “There is no place for discrimination of any kind in the NHS, or in Scottish society as a whole, and this needs support and commitment.
“Fostering an inclusive culture in the NHS and supporting people from all backgrounds is key to improving patient care and staff experience.”
