Two London NHS trusts spent nearly £350,000 on colourful signs in the middle of the pandemic while thousands of patients died with Covid in their hospitals.
The self-congratulatory signs cost a combined total of £345,142.41 and were put up as part of a recruitment push by King’s College NHS Trust and South London and Maudsley NHS Trust in November 2021, a Freedom of Information (FOI) request lodged by the Daily Mail revealed.
While these signs were being prepared and installed, 1,625 patients died with Covid at King’s College Trust hospitals from the beginning of the pandemic until March 2023, official government data shows.
King’s College Hospital also had £735million of debt written off by the government in 2020 just before the pandemic, after its finances were in a ‘precarious state’, Mrs Hayes told the Commons in December 2021.
John O’Connell, CEO of the TaxPayers’ Alliance said: ‘This is a shocking example of how warped spending priorities became during the pandemic, with taxpayers’ money diverted into vanity projects while frontline care was under immense strain.
‘Nearly £400,000 on decorative “thank you” signs is impossible to justify when hospitals were overwhelmed, and lives were being lost.
‘Episodes like this underline why the NHS needs far stronger scrutiny and accountability over how money is spent, to ensure limited resources are directed to patient care rather than wasteful, box-ticking gestures.’
The signs line the street on both sides in block colour for 250 metres outside King’s College Hospital along Denmark Hill, Camberwell. They have also been put up inside King’s College Hospital as well as the other King’s College Trust Hospitals – Princess Royal University Hospital and Orpington Hospital.
The signs cost the Trusts £345,142.41 in total and were put up at three King’s College Hospital sites and at Maudsley Hospital
The boards stretch the 250 metre length of Denmark Hill outside King’s College Hospital and Maudsley Hospital
There were 300 pieces of artwork and 18 installations across the three King’s College Trust sites, designers People Scout said
Life-saving ventilators used to battle deadly Covid cost around £18,300 each, according to National Audit Office figures, meaning the £345,000 price tag for the signs could have bought 18 ventilators instead.
Covid patients stay on ventilators on average for about 8-10 days, ventilator specialist Better Option said. This means, over the two years of the pandemic, these 18 ventilators could have used on 1,310 patients – almost as many as those who died at King’s College Trust hospitals.
King’s College Trust led the campaign and spent £338,694.40 for one side of the street and the inside of their hospitals to be covered, while South London and Maudsley Trust used the same campaign material, so spent only £6,448.01.
King’s College Trust doubled down on their defence of the massive public spending, with a spokesperson saying: ‘Our Big Thank You campaign recognised the extraordinary dedication of hospital staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.
‘The same campaign materials were also used to support recruitment efforts at the Trust.’
The Trust’s FOI officer said that the signs ‘contributed to both staff morale and recruitment during that difficult period’.
They continued: ‘The signs helped fill a significant number of vacancies in the Trust at that time and won awards for recruitment advertising.’
There were 300 pieces of artwork and 18 installations across the three King’s College Trust sites, according to People Scout, who were commissioned to make the signs for the Trust.
The ‘Big Thank You’ campaign also received a refresh about a year after the signs were installed with more photos being taken of staff and published digitally. King’s College Trust said the cost of this refresh was included in the above costings.
John O’Connell (pictured), CEO of the TaxPayers’ Alliance said: ‘Nearly £400,000 on decorative ‘thank you’ signs is impossible to justify when hospitals were overwhelmed, and lives were being lost’
The £345,000 price tag of these signs was the equivalent cost of 18 life saving ventilators for Covid patients
Around 1,300 patients could have used 18 ventilators during the course of the two-year pandemic, according to average figures
Both King’s College and South London and Maudsely Trusts defended their massive public spending on the signs
In total, there were 13,159 thank yous sent to staff, People Scout said.
The South London and Maudsley Trust claimed that the signage, which is identical to that made by People Scout for King’s College Trust, was ‘designed, manufactured, and installed primarily in-house by the Trust’s Estates and Facilities Department’ in their FOI response.
However, a spokesperson confirmed that this was not the case and that they used the same signs as the King’s College Trust rather than make their own.
The spokesperson said: ‘The Big Thank You recruitment campaign was led by King’s College London NHS Foundation Trust during 2020 to help recognise the extraordinary dedication of hospital staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.
‘The same campaign materials were also used to support recruitment efforts at the Trust.
‘South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust was proud to support this campaign six years ago recognising our extraordinary mental health staff who went above and beyond during the pandemic.’