NHS Admin Costs and “overhead”

The administration of the NHS alone costs as much as a new high-speed railway, every year

Sir, We do need a proper conversation on health policy (letter, July 7). It must include administrative costs, the largest item of NHS expenditure. In 2010 it was estimated that 14 per cent of the NHS budget, about £15.4 billion, went on administration. This was probably an underestimate. The exact costs are hard to calculate — how, for example, does one cost the admin activities by frontline clinical staff — but this should be included.

For 2014 an estimate of £20 billion would be credible. To put it another way, the cost of managing the NHS for a year is similar to the projected cost of building the HS2 rail link from London to Birmingham or more than half the total education budget. This just seems wrong.

Bohumil S Drasar

Emeritus Professor of Bacteriology

London N12

A biased report supports the British Health Services- and claims our overhead as 3.4%. Trusts vary greatly, and probably don’t know..