The post you are reporting:
Cash-poor NHS spends millions on art - despite cuts that led to thousands of job losses
As one trust boasts of being the biggest art gallery in town, campaigners object to art purchases worth up to £5m
The NHS is spending millions of pounds on art, despite cuts that have led to thousands of job losses, The Independent on Sunday can reveal.
Freedom of Information requests showed that 89 NHS trusts have spent nearly £2m on art since 2010, but the total is likely to be far higher, with 222 foundation and mental health trusts across the country.
Works include £8,000 steel giraffes at Tameside Hospital in Greater Manchester, an £83,000 water feature at Salford Royal, and a £120,000 "ceiling artwork" at Barts and Royal London.
One trust boasted of being "the largest art gallery in Liverpool".
Art co-ordinators are employed by the NHS and paid up to £56,000 a year. NHS England said these are "usually qualified professionals with a broad knowledge of the arts". A nurse's starting salary is £21,000.
The NHS has been told to find £20bn in savings by 2015. The National Audit Office said in April that 10,000 staff had been laid off in the past three years. NHS campaigners have said it is "time to get real