Redundant NHS staff ‘rejoined the service a month later’

Almost 4,000 NHS administrative staff who were made redundant during last year's restructuring have since been re-employed by the service.

The government said "unacceptably lax" contracts were to blame, with some staff rejoining the NHS just a month after receiving a huge severance package.

Now ministers state they are working on new plans to stop this from happening again as they attempt to further reduce administrative posts overall.

Labour shadow health secretary Andy Burnham attacked the government's handling of the NHS, saying that it would be hard for underpaid nurses to comprehend that staff were given £43,000 payouts before rejoining.

Health minister Dr Dan Poulter defending the policy, stating: "By reducing managers and administrators by over 21,100, we are freeing up extra resources for patient care – 5.5 billion pounds in this parliament and 1.5 billion pounds every year thereafter."