Tory Steve Barclay 'plays interior designer' while hospitals fall apart

05 August 2023 , 21:41

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Health Secretary Steve Barclay held five meetings with interior designers (Image: Thomas Krych/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock)

Tory Steve Barclay held five meetings with interior designers on decking out ministerial offices as hospitals fell apart.

The Health Secretary was warned in February that 30 NHS hospitals and buildings were at risk of collapse because of crumbling concrete blocks.

That month he met representatives from boutique interior designers Bon Collective to discuss “floor plans of Department of Health and Social Care buildings."

The Sunday Mirror revealed in March that Mr Barclay had met them on two previous occasions in November. And this newspaper can now disclose he met with Bon Collective three times in February, taking his ­meetings with the fancy design firm to five.

Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: “Hospitals across England are outdated and crumbling, putting patient and staff safety at risk. Having delayed the new hospitals programme into the 2030s, Steve Barclay seems more focused on playing interior designer."

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Last month, it emerged Mr Barclay was resorting to giving patients virtual reality tours of the promised 40 new hospitals as they haven’t actually been built.

The politician is putting on roadshows across the country to give the public the chance to put on headsets and pretend they’re getting treated in the new facilities.

But Labour declared it’s “time for a government that’s living in the real world” as they warned patients stuck on record waiting lists need actual hospitals not just make-believe ones.

Mikey Smith