Fury after NHS spent greater than £112m on POSTAGE final yr – regardless of its aim to be paperless by 2020

THE NHS spent greater than £112million on postage final yr — regardless of its aim to be paperless by 2020.

Well being service trusts throughout the UK elevated spending on letters to sufferers by 17 per cent from 2021 to 2022.

One London belief has greater than tripled its spend since 2019.

Elliot Keck, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, urged bosses to “trim the fats” on pointless postage.

He mentioned: “Taxpayers shall be shocked by the scale of this spending.”

The NHS has frequently pushed again deadlines for going paperless since Jeremy Hunt made the promise in 2013 when he was Well being Secretary.

Labour’s Shadow Well being Secretary Wes Streeting mentioned: “Taxpayers are paying a fairly penny for the Conservatives’ failure to convey our analogue well being service into the digital age.”

Trusts spent a median of £1.7million on postage within the three years from 2019/20 to 2021/22.

4 doubled their spend in that interval however 50 lower prices.

The NHS mentioned the TaxPayers’ Alliance analysis was “deceptive”.

It mentioned the figures fail to account for the truth that postage costs have gone up since 2019.