Marbella, the management consultant and the scandal of the nurses' rotas

Last month, an anonymous letter sent to politicians and journalists raised questions about the extensive use of management consultants earning £1,000 a day or more at Betsi Cadwaladr Univerity Health Board.

Plaid Cymru's North Wales AM Llyr Gruffydd sent a request for clarification to BCUHB but was ignored for more than a month. He sent in a Freedom of Information request base don the anonymous tip-off.

He then raised the matter with the health minister Vaughan Gething.

One issue in particular was disturbing - that one of the management consultants was being paid £2,000 a day for work that involved making savings by extending nurses'r rotas by half an hour per shift to save on agency nursing.

The consultant in question was Phillip Burns, who the Daily Post reports is based in Marbella.

Llyr Gruffydd said: 

“The Freedom of Information response we’ve received shows that Mr Burns will receive £40,000 a month for his work in saving the health board money. One of his suggestions is to extend nurses’ shift for extra half-hour a shift without pay. This would save an estimated £25,000 a month according to the health board.

“It beggars belief that the health board have to resort to overpaid consultants to do this work. It also begs the question about why senior managers in the health board can’t find savings without putting additional pressure on overstretched nursing staff.

“BCUHB has a £42 million deficit and one in nine of its nursing posts is vacant. It’s paying a fortune on agency nursing costs because senior management can’t recruit or retain enough staff. 

"To make matters worse, BCUHB has been in special measures for the past four years and that means it’s under the direct control of the Welsh Government. I have challenged health minister Vaughan Gething and his predecessor Mark Drakeford (now Welsh First Minister) to explain how they are improving BCUHB because staff and patients on the ground are not seeing any significant improvements. 

"If we’re having to see costly consultants come in to run the show, then it suggests that senior management isn’t doing its job. Given that the health board is under the direct control of the Welsh Government, the buck stops with them.”