Stafford and Cannock Chase hospitals' £4m consultant bill

Hospital bosses in Stafford and Cannock will spend up to £4million on consultants to help improve patient care during the next 12 months.

The cash – an increase on the previous year – will be used to continue a review of clinical services to cut costs and look at how patients can move from the accident and emergency department to wards more efficiently. Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Stafford and Cannock Chase hospitals, spent £3.25m on management consultants in 2010/11.

It is aiming to make savings of 3.7 per cent – or £6.4m – during the 2011/12 financial year.

Finance director Darren Cattell said outside experts from consultancy firms were needed for their "skills and expertise" to give advice in areas where existing staff did not have them.

Consultants have already been brought in to fill vacancies using interim managers where the hospital trust has been unable to recruit staff as well as helping to relieve some of the pressure on existing workers by providing extra support.