Commenting on new figures released by the Conservative Party showing NHS expenditure on management consultants, Dr Paul Miller, chairman of the BMA's consultants' committee, said this was further evidence of the NHS wasting money and the excessive spending on external help should be stopped.

He said: "The extraordinary sums of money being spent by the NHS on management consultants, who don't have the answers, is costing the NHS dearly. The NHS has become a management consultant addict. It is simply taking money away from patient care rather than coming up with new ideas to solve the financial problems of the NHS.

"The NHS needs good management and managers who involve those that know about patients and the NHS, such as the staff who provide the services, not just people parachuted in from outside the hospital with no hospital experience."

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