Trust criticised for putting staff before patients

An NHS hospital trust has been accused of facilitating rapid referral to a medical consultant as a job perk for its 4000 employees at the expense of patients urgently awaiting treatment. The move has met with considerable opposition from local general practitioners and goes against the recommendation of the hospital's consultant committee.

On 14 November 1995 Bryan Carpenter, director of personnel at South Devon Healthcare NHS Trust, based at Torbay Hospital, sent a memo to local general practitioners and hospital staff …