Health groups spend thousands on awards ceremony
NHS organisations in the Black Country and Staffordshire have spent thousands of pounds sending staff and guests to awards ceremonies.
Sandwell and West Birmingham Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), which organises the delivery of NHS services, paid for 24 staff to attend the Health Service Journal Awards.
The black tie events are to recognise the best and most innovative healthcare projects.
Sandwell and West Birmingham CCG spent £4,500 on attending - the largest amount spent by any organisation in the Black Country.
The same amount was also spent by Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Sandwell General, City and Rowley Regis Hospitals, out of its charitable funds.
The figures were revealed in responses to Freedom of Information Act requests lodged by South Devon-based Dr George Julian.
The money was spent at a time when Labour is saying the NHS is 'creaking' and leader Ed Miliband wants to pump another £2.5 billion a year into it by targetting tobacco firms, tax dodgers and London's wealthy homeowners to pay more.
The Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals attended two award ceremonies organised by the HSJ - the HSJ Efficiency Awards, with eight people sent at a cost of £2,490 and 11 who went to the HSJ Patient Safety Awards at a cost of £2,760.
See also: £3.2m funding boost for Sandwell winter healthcare.
It also spent £5,700 on this month's HSJ Value in Healthcare Awards.
NHS Walsall CCG spent £4,090 plus VAT attending two events - one with 10 people and the other with 11.
And Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, which runs Walsall Manor Hospital, forked out £4,045 plus VAT for two awards nights.
Dudley's Clinical Commissioning Group paid for five seats, four of which were taken by people from different organisations.
The cost came to £1,620.
The Dudley Group of Hospitals sent 10 staff at a cost of £1,825 plus VAT while South Staffordshire and Shropshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust sent eight people at a cost of £2,350 plus VAT.
West Midlands Ambulance sent five people to HSJ awards and spent £1,350.
Karen Blanchette, spokesman for Sandwell and West Birmingham Clinical Commissioning Group said: "The CCG saw the awards ceremony as an opportunity to recognise staff and GPs for their hard work, and sought to do so at the minimum cost possible.
"It was able to do this by sharing coach travel to the event with another organisation, and providing budget accommodation along with low-cost, no-frills entry to the ceremony.
"Patients were also invited and attended the event."
See also: Revealed: £14m cost of agency staff at West Midlands hospitals.
And Vanya Rogers, spokesman for Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals, said: "We believe that outstanding work and innovative service developments deserve to be recognised as a way of ensuring a culture of continuous improvement of the service and care we offer our patients.
"That is why we support staff to attend the HSJ Awards.
"Last year we spent £4,500 from our charitable funds account to support staff wellbeing and learning to send staff - who had been shortlisted for two separate awards - to the award ceremony.
"We were delighted that our innovative recruitment project 'The Learning Works' was judged the winner of the Workforce category – which recognises innovation in workforce development and ways to bring people into the NHS."
Last year's HSJ Awards were anchored by Channel 4 News presenter Jon Snow.
