A damning new report this week from the Civitas think tank has slammed the NHS for “misdirecting resources and talent” and wasting taxpayers’ money with its ‘Workforce Race Equality Standard’ (WRES) scheme – a programme which attempts to “monitor and control diversity and equality” in the Health Service by setting diversity targets and turning it into “an instrument of social justice”. Yes, as opposed to just an instrument for saving lives…

The research finds that despite the estimated £50-60 million spent on WRES in the last five years, 8 of the scheme’s 9 diversity indicators have shown no significant improvement, all while ramping up the bureaucratic power of overpaid middle managers and ‘BME leads’. The report doesn’t hold back:

“WRES is the creation of a cohort of ideologically-minded individuals who benefit from the programme, while the costs are left to patients and the taxpayer. Ultimately, this means money is wasted and not spent on improving health.”

The paper adds that NHS Chief People Officer Prerana Issar – who’s ultimately responsible for all this – is on £230,000 a year, which is more than CEO who hired her. Worth bearing in mind as Rishi whacks a ‘health and social care levy’ on everyone’s payslips…