Health chiefs axe 200 beds... then fork out £350,000 on 'stop smoking' advisers

Health service chiefs have been attacked for hiring 12 ‘smoking cessation’ advisers and managers on salaries of up to £38,300 only a year after it was announced that as many as 200 hospital beds were being cut to save money.
Nine counsellors and three administrators are being paid a total of up to £350,000 a year to encourage Leicester’s estimated 68,000 smokers to quit.
But critics say much of their work could be done far more cheaply by GPs, health visitors and district nurses who come into daily contact with smokers as part of their normal duties.
Among its counsellors the stop-smoking unit – run by the primary care trust NHS Leicester City – has one specialist adviser for pregnant women, another for people with mental health problems and another for young people and families.
They are backed up by a team manager, administrator and office manager plus a varying number of part-time staff brought in when required.

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