NHS Trusts Defend £345,000 Pandemic Signage Expenditure
Two major London NHS trusts allocated nearly £350,000 for colourful 'thank you' signage during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, while official data shows thousands of patients died with the virus in their hospitals. The expenditure, totalling £345,142.41, was revealed through a Freedom of Information request obtained by the Daily Mail and has sparked significant controversy regarding NHS spending priorities during the health crisis.
Timing and Context of the Expenditure
The self-congratulatory signs were installed in November 2021 as part of a joint recruitment campaign by King's College NHS Foundation Trust and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. This occurred during a period when the NHS was under unprecedented strain, with hospitals overwhelmed by COVID-19 cases and staff working under extreme pressure.
While these installations were being prepared and erected, official government statistics indicate that 1,625 patients died with COVID-19 at King's College Trust hospitals between the pandemic's onset and March 2023. The timing has raised serious questions about resource allocation during a national emergency.
Scale and Details of the Installation
The signage campaign was extensive, with 300 pieces of artwork and 18 installations across three King's College Trust hospital sites. The signs line both sides of Denmark Hill in Camberwell for 250 metres outside King's College Hospital, creating a prominent visual display. Additional signage was placed inside King's College Hospital as well as at Princess Royal University Hospital and Orpington Hospital.
Design agency People Scout, commissioned to create the signs, confirmed the scale of the project. King's College Trust bore the majority of the cost at £338,694.40, while South London and Maudsley Trust spent £6,448.01 to use the same campaign materials.
Alternative Uses for the Funds
The expenditure becomes particularly striking when compared to essential medical equipment costs during the pandemic. According to National Audit Office figures, life-saving ventilators used to treat critically ill COVID-19 patients cost approximately £18,300 each. This means the £345,000 spent on signage could have purchased 18 ventilators instead.
Medical experts indicate that COVID-19 patients typically require ventilator support for 8-10 days on average. Over the two-year pandemic period, these 18 ventilators could have treated approximately 1,310 patients – a number approaching the total COVID-19 deaths recorded at King's College Trust hospitals during that time.
Financial Context and Criticism
The spending occurred against a backdrop of significant financial challenges for the NHS. King's College Hospital had £735 million of debt written off by the government in 2020, just before the pandemic, after its finances were described as being in a 'precarious state'.
John O'Connell, CEO of the TaxPayers' Alliance, offered strong criticism of the expenditure: '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.'
He continued: '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.'
Trust Defences and Justifications
Both trusts have defended their expenditure, with King's College Trust stating: '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 added that the signs 'contributed to both staff morale and recruitment during that difficult period' and helped fill 'a significant number of vacancies in the Trust at that time and won awards for recruitment advertising.'
South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust initially claimed in their FOI response that their signage was 'designed, manufactured, and installed primarily in-house by the Trust's Estates and Facilities Department', but a spokesperson later confirmed they used the same signs as King's College Trust rather than creating their own.
Campaign Extension and Additional Costs
The 'Big Thank You' campaign received a refresh approximately one year after the initial installation, with additional photographs of staff taken and published digitally. King's College Trust confirmed that the cost of this refresh was included in the overall £345,142.41 expenditure figure.
According to People Scout, the campaign generated 13,159 thank you messages sent to NHS staff, though the relationship between this figure and the substantial financial outlay remains a point of contention among critics of the spending.
The controversy highlights ongoing debates about NHS spending transparency, accountability, and prioritisation during times of crisis, with questions remaining about whether such expenditures represent value for money when balanced against pressing clinical needs.
