The leader of Liverpool’s Liberal Democrats has slammed plans by NHS chiefs to spend £300,000 on accountancy fees in a bid to slash millions from their Merseyside outlay.
Pricewaterhouse Coopers have been enlisted to draw up a number of Sustainable Transformation Plans (STPs) designed to cut costs.
It is hoped that the annual cost of providing healthcare to the region falls within a £5.8 billion budget over the next five years despite a projected forecast of £6.8bn.
Plans to merge several hospitals have already been mooted under the cost-cutting plans and Cllr Richard Kemp believes that the latest initiative is a needless expense at a time when the health service is already struggling.
He said: “This is a scandalous waste of resources at a time when the NHS is stretched for cash.
“We could all think of better things to do with the money. It also shows the lack of confidence in the senior staff that the NHS employ.
“Given the salaries that many of the Chief Executives and Finance officers are on it should be totally unnecessary to employ outside expertise.
“These STPs are totally unnecessary and a distraction when the NHS needs to build organic change into the way it does business.”