Waste of time and money in hospitals makes you want to cry, NHS England chief says

NHS England’s new chief has lamented the waste of time and money within the health service and said it makes her “want to cry”.

Dr Penny Dash, chair for NHS England, said there is poor management in hospitals which means the NHS “absolutely” wastes too much money.

The former hospital doctor and management consultant, who was appointed in March to help Health Secretary Wes Streeting’s reform of the NHS and oversee the abolishment of NHS England, also said that erratic care across England – which leads to the poorest people receiving some of the worst treatment – is a “stain on our country”.

Speaking two days after the publication of the government’s 10-year plan for the NHS, she told The Sunday Times: “We’ve got some GP practices where less than 2 per cent of people with diabetes get the right care but in other GP practices it’s 80 per cent. That cannot be right.

“I think it is a stain on our country that we have some of the poorest communities receiving the poorest care. We’ve got fewer GPs per head of population in the parts of the country that need them most than we do in the parts of the country that need them least.”

According to the paper, Dr Dash will use an upcoming report on patient safety, due to be published on Monday, to highlight that £6 billion a year is being lost due to poor disease management where best practice is not followed.

Addressing stories of patients suffering and missing appointments due to admin errors, Dr Dash said “you just want to cry”. She added: “There is poor management — we have operating theatres that don’t start on time and that has a really high cost.”

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Source: The Independent, 6 July 2025