The NHS spent £103.7 million on postal services in the past five years – much of which one digital communications firm argues could be saved by digitising their communications.
Beyond Encryption submitted FOI requests to NHS trusts across the UK, with responses from 57 trusts revealing that on average they’re spending £500,000 a year on post. This amounts to the whole of the NHS spending over £100 million each year and over half a billion pounds over a five year period on post.
The company argues that the NHS could save £98 million pounds by digitising their postal output
“As the government announces pay rises for public sector staff and … Junior Doctors on strike … such expenditure could theoretically hire the equivalent of 3,048 more Junior Doctors with the reported spend on post,” said the company in a statement, “Alternatively, as the British Medical Association stated, Junior Doctor pay restoration would cost the government £1.03 billion so this could contribute significantly to that deficit.”
The figures also revealed significant environmental impact from the NHS’ reliance on post. When looking at the FOI responses from 39 NHS trusts, it was revealed that more than 100 million letters have been sent since 2018. “This significant output emits 3,680t CO2 which is the equivalent of driving over nine million miles in a petrol car and would require over 6,000 trees to be planted to offset the emissions,” it noted.
Paul Holland, CEO and founder at Beyond Encryption, said the figures reveal “not only the astronomical financial cost but also the damaging environmental impact the NHS’ reliance on post is having.
“It’s vital that in 2023, the NHS looks to modernise and embrace digital transformation strategies to implement secure, cost effective and efficient communication services. Otherwise, the institution will simply be unable to navigate future challenges and deal with the increased pressure and strain it will undoubtedly face.”
