During the height of the pandemic, two NHS trusts in London allocated close to £350,000 on vibrant signage, despite the tragic loss of thousands of patients to COVID-19 within their facilities.

An investigation by the Daily Mail, through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, uncovered that King’s College NHS Trust and South London and Maudsley NHS Trust spent a total of £345,142.41 on these signs. The initiative, launched in November 2021, aimed to bolster recruitment efforts.

While preparations and installations of the signs were underway, government data indicates that 1,625 patients succumbed to COVID-19 at hospitals managed by King’s College Trust between the onset of the pandemic and March 2023.

In 2020, just before the pandemic’s escalation, King’s College Hospital had £735 million of debt forgiven by the government due to its financial instability. This issue was highlighted in December 2021 by Mrs. Hayes during a parliamentary session, as documented in the official records.

John O’Connell, CEO of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, criticized the expenditure, stating, “This is a glaring example of misguided spending priorities during the pandemic. Taxpayers’ money was channeled into what can only be described as vanity projects, while the healthcare system faced unprecedented challenges.”

He added, “Spending nearly £400,000 on decorative ‘thank you’ signs is indefensible when hospitals were overburdened and lives were at stake.”

‘Episodes like this underline why the NHS needs far stronger scrutiny and accountability over how money is spent, to ensure limited resources are directed to patient care rather than wasteful, box-ticking gestures.’

The signs line the street on both sides in block colour for 250 metres outside King’s College Hospital along Denmark Hill, Camberwell. They have also been put up inside King’s College Hospital as well as the other King’s College Trust Hospitals – Princess Royal University Hospital and Orpington Hospital.

The signs cost the NHS trusts £345,142.41 in total and were put up at three King’s College Hospital sites and at Maudsley Hospital

The boards stretch the 250-metre length of Denmark Hill outside King’s College Hospital and Maudsley Hospital

There were 300 pieces of artwork and 18 installations across the three King’s College Trust sites, designers People Scout said 

Life-saving ventilators used to battle deadly Covid cost around £18,300 each, according to National Audit Office figures, meaning the £345,000 price tag for the signs could have bought 18 ventilators instead.

Covid patients stay on ventilators on average for about 8-10 days, ventilator specialist Better Option said. This means, over the two years of the pandemic, these 18 ventilators could have been used on 1,310 patients – almost as many as those who died at King’s College Trust hospitals.

King’s College Trust led the campaign and spent £338,694.40 for one side of the street and the inside of their hospitals to be covered, while South London and Maudsley Trust used the same campaign material, so spent only £6,448.01.

King’s College Trust doubled down on their defence of the massive public spending, with a spokesperson saying: ‘Our Big Thank You campaign recognised the extraordinary dedication of hospital staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.

‘The same campaign materials were also used to support recruitment efforts at the Trust.’ 

The Trust’s FOI officer said that the signs ‘contributed to both staff morale and recruitment during that difficult period’.

They continued: ‘The signs helped fill a significant number of vacancies in the Trust at that time and won awards for recruitment advertising.’

There were 300 pieces of artwork and 18 installations across the three King’s College Trust sites, according to People Scout, who were commissioned to make the signs for the Trust.

The ‘Big Thank You’ campaign also received a refresh about a year after the signs were installed with more photos being taken of staff and published digitally. King’s College Trust said the cost of this refresh was included in the above costings.

John O’Connell (pictured), CEO of the TaxPayers’ Alliance said: ‘Nearly £400,000 on decorative “thank you” signs is impossible to justify when hospitals were overwhelmed, and lives were being lost’

The £345,000 price tag of these signs was the equivalent cost of 18 life saving ventilators for Covid patients

Around 1,300 patients could have used 18 ventilators during the course of the two-year pandemic, according to average figures

Both King’s College and South London and Maudsely Trusts defended their massive public spending on the signs

In total, there were 13,159 thank yous sent to staff, People Scout said.

The South London and Maudsley Trust claimed that the signage, which is identical to that made by People Scout for King’s College Trust, was ‘designed, manufactured, and installed primarily in-house by the Trust’s Estates and Facilities Department’ in their FOI response.

A spokesperson said: ‘The Big Thank You recruitment campaign was led by King’s College London NHS Foundation Trust during 2020 to help recognise the extraordinary dedication of hospital staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.

‘The same campaign materials were also used to support recruitment efforts at the Trust.

‘South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust was proud to support this campaign six years ago recognising our extraordinary mental health staff who went above and beyond during the pandemic.’