Nearly £290k spent on 205 overseas trips for NHS Lothian staff in one year

NEARLY £290,000 was spent on more than 200 overseas trips for staff at budget-cutting NHS Lothian in 2018.

In one series of trips, employees were flown out to Jacksonville, Florida five times in seven months with flights alone costing £17,280.

Staff also jetted off to Singapore for a week in June and Osaka, Japan, in November and one staff member went to Sydney for two weeks at the end of August.

NHS Lothian said it was committed to developing the best care for patients which meant encouraging staff to attend training courses and conferences with colleagues around the world to improve patient experience at home.

The health board said some of the overseas trips were covered by research grants and reimbursed by host nations for clinicians providing specialist training to communities. But they were unable to specify how each of the trips were paid for and what proportion of the costs were billed to taxpayers.

Most of the trips – including to the US – were for conferences and meetings but the health board refused to provide details on what specific knowledge was gained by staff on these trips and how this benefited patients at home.

Lothian Conservative MSP Miles Briggs said: “It is completely understandable for NHS professionals to go on international trips to exchange knowledge and undertake recruitment drives. People will however want to know that Scottish taxpayers are getting value for money and NHS resources are wisely used.”

All of the 205 overseas trips made by NHS Lothian staff in 2018 were part of a travel bill of £286,477.55 – £168,200 on accommodation and £118,275 on flights. The figures, obtained under freedom of information laws, showed other US destinations included Miami and Salt Lake City – and San Diego twice.

Employees also went to Africa including Malawi, Zambia and Tanzania and Rwanda. Such trips often see specialist staff being invited to share knowledge with local communities, for which the health board is usually reimbursed.

Several trips were also made within Europe, with popular destinations including Bucharest, Barcelona and Dusseldorf.

One of the reasons for travel in Europe is to renew doctor licences, the training for which takes place outside of the UK. Consultants, speciality doctors, biomedical scientists and acute nursing staff were among the personnel sent on foreign trips by NHS Lothian in 2018, with the vast majority of trips attended by consultants.

Dr Tracey Gillies, medical director of NHS Lothian, said: “NHS Lothian is committed to providing the best possible care for our patients which means that we want our staff to be at the forefront of developments in medical advances.

“We positively encourage our staff to develop their clinical and professional abilities by attending training courses, conferences and learning symposiums with colleagues from around the world to help improve patient experience and clinical quality.

“It is also worth noting that when staff are invited to events to share their expertise and attend as speakers, their costs may be reimbursed to NHS Lothian by the hosts.

“The same may also apply for clinicians travelling to foreign countries to provide medical training and in other cases research grants may often be used to fund the costs.”