An NHS trust which is axing hundreds of jobs in a bid to save �25m is spending �100,000 a month on advisers telling it how to save the cash, it has emerged. About 430 posts will be cut at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust as part of a cost-cutting plan aimed at saving �84m in the next three years.
Imelda Bennett, from Unison, said the union believed spending �100,000 on advisers was not value-for-money.
But trust chief executive Neil McKay has defended the expenditure.
He said: "We don't have to spend that amount to tell us what we need to do, we know what we need to do. Where we need help is to implement change."
Bright future
Mr McKay said the advisers, from Price Waterhouse Coopers, were specialists and had successfully helped firms to make savings in the past.
He said there were no current plans for redundancies and it was hoped the cuts could be met through leaving vacant posts unfilled.
Mr McKay said the trust had a bright future, with a new state-of-the-art cancer centre at St James's Hospital and a �60m investment in new equipment already approved.
The trust hopes to save �6m by negotiating better deals on drugs and equipment and save another �1.25m by cutting huge amounts of sickness absence.
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