NHS England spends £15k a week on train tickets for staff
Office workers for NHS England forked out more than £15,000 a week ferrying staff between its two offices in London and Leeds.
In total, the train fares cost taxpayers £846,686 in the year to April 2024, NHS figures obtained through a Freedom of Information request revealed. This represents a 70pc rise compared to 2022-23 when the bill was £500,256.
It showed that NHS England staff were regularly travelling by train for two hours and 30 minutes between the two cities for meetings and conferences, despite a rise in remote working and video conferencing.
In one case, managers approved a return ticket worth £432.50, which was paid for by the taxpayer.
John O'Connell, of the lobby group the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'It's staggering that an NHS quango is blowing more than £15,000 a week on train tickets while ordinary Britons are being told to tighten their belts.
'With remote working and video calls now the norm, there's no excuse for this level of face-to-face travel, especially at such eye-watering prices.
'Ministers must ensure these bloated expenses are brought firmly under control.'
NHS England bought 5,337 single and return tickets between Leeds and London for staff last year, according to the data. This means there were more than 100 journeys every week, with the average ticket costing over £150.
Earlier this year, the Government revealed it was abolishing NHS England to cut bureaucracy and divert money to frontline services.
Announcing the decision, Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, said the budget for NHS England staff and admin alone had soared to £2bn, and that taxpayers were 'paying more, but getting less'.
The process is expected to take over two years, and it is suspected that many of the staff will end up still being employed within the NHS.
In total, the quango's train ticket expenses bill rose almost 70pc in the past year from £4.7m to £7.9m.
Its travel bill, covering all forms of transport, increased to almost £10m, with £1.5m reimbursing staff for motoring expenses.
An NHS England spokesman said: 'Given that our staff run a national health service, travel between sites is necessary to ensure effective co-ordination, but this should only be undertaken in line with our strict internal processes and government guidance.
'The number of flights taken by staff has almost halved in 2024-25 compared to 2023-24 following the introduction of the Flight Approval Panel, so that we continue to ensure every penny of taxpayers' money is spent wisely.'
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