We can reveal that Woke NHS trusts are paying more than £4,000 each to send senior staff to equality, diversity and inclusion training.
The program is run by the NHS Confederation, the healthcare’s main membership organisation, which regularly complains that the NHS is short of cash.
But it charges members, including NHS trusts and integrated care systems, £3,500 + VAT to enroll managers on the four-and-a-half day course.
It says participants will be supported to ‘build a national profile’ for the EDI agenda and ‘collectivise their interests’ to ‘influence decision-makers’.
The NHS Confederation last week published the findings of its own survey of 560 CEOs, chairmen, HR directors and EDI leaders.
The program is run by the NHS Confederation, the healthcare’s main membership organisation, which regularly complains that the NHS is short of cash
It reported that ‘100 per cent of board-level leaders agreed that investing in EDI is an important part of improving the NHS’.
However, a report commissioned by business secretary Kemi Badenoch shows that the majority of EDI spending is a waste of money.
She said the UK’s push for diversity has been “counterproductive” and warned that inclusion policies should not come at the expense of white men.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt also used his Budget earlier this month to urge councils to cut back on such policies, and Rishi Sunak has appointed a ‘sane minister’.
Current estimates put the NHS’s annual spend on specific EDI roles at around £40 million.
The Mail previously told how former Health Secretary Steve Barclay had condemned NHS bosses for wasting taxpayers’ money on expensive diversity officers instead of funding primary care.
However, a report commissioned by business secretary Kemi Badenoch shows that the majority of EDI spending is a waste of money. She said Britain’s diversity drive has been ‘counterproductive’ and warned that inclusion policies should not come at the expense of white men
He told managers to stop paying fees to outside diversity consultants and to eliminate special EDI positions or publicly explain why they think they are more valuable than doctors and nurses.
Mr Barclay is said to have taken action after discovering a hospital wanted to recruit a ‘director of equality, diversity and inclusion’ with a salary of up to £96,376.
Tory MP Paul Bristow, member of the Commons health and social care committee, said: ‘I have never read a briefing from the NHS Confederation that doesn’t call for more funding for the health service.
‘I think taxpayers will therefore take a dim view of NHS organizations charging to send their staff to one of their EDI courses.
“This money should be spent on increasing capacity and helping to clear the backlog of patients waiting for care.”
It is understood that 12 organizations have enrolled staff on the latest NHS Confederation course, with each trust or ICS potentially sending more than one person.
The course includes three days of in-person training and three half-day virtual sessions.
No additional costs will be charged for each additional staff member from the same organization.
Marketing material promoting the NHS Confederation course says: ‘Participants will be supported in building a national profile for tackling inequalities EDI agenda by identifying and collectivising their interests and coordinating an approach to influencing decision makers , based on first-hand knowledge of EDI. HI in practice.’
The latest NHS Standard Racial Equality Report, published this week, shows that the number of NHS staff from minority ethnic backgrounds has risen dramatically over the past five years, from less than one in five in 2018 to more than one in four in 2023.
Callum McGoldrick, from the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘Taxpayers are fed up with public services wasting time and money on non-jobs and training.
“Health care is being expanded in all directions and is rapidly approaching breaking point, but precious hours are being spent on unnecessary navel-gazing.
‘NHS bosses must put an end to ridiculous time-wasting exercises.’
Joan Saddler, director of partnerships and equality at the NHS Confederation, said: ‘We want to help our members tackle inequality and discrimination and be as inclusive as possible for both their staff and local communities.
‘Health leaders have told us they appreciate this support from us and the evidence as to why this and other guidance is needed speaks for itself, with racism, misogyny and harassment still pervading society and the NHS itself being the most diverse employer in the country whose services touch every aspect of our lives.
“We will continue to act in the best interests of our members and provide all possible support to help them meet and address these challenges.”