NHS Bosses Pocket Salaries Higher Than the Prime Minister’s
A recent report by the Daily Mail has revealed that hundreds of NHS bosses are earning salaries higher than the Prime Minister’s, despite the health service’s struggles with waiting lists and A&E performance. The report, which covers over 200 trusts for the 2023-24 financial year, found that nearly 1,700 fat-cat bureaucrats at NHS trusts were each handed more than £100,000 a year.
According to the report, 512 managers banked salaries higher than Sir Keir Starmer’s £172,153, with nearly 300 receiving packages of £200,000 or more. The Daily Mail’s findings will likely anger the millions of patients stuck on waiting lists, with around 6.25 million patients, relating to 7.42 million cases, languishing on them, and nearly 3 million waiting for more than 18 weeks.
The study by the TaxPayers’ Alliance, as reported by the Daily Mail, found that East Cheshire NHS Trust paid eight managers £100,000 or more despite being the worst-performing trust in percentage terms for seeing A&E patients within four hours. The trust’s ‘director of people and culture’ and deputy CEO Rachael Charlton raked in a package of £367,500. Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust also gave eight bosses £100,000 or more despite having the worst referral-to-treatment median waiting times.
The Daily Mail reported that Chief medical director Catherine Walsh banked £387,500 in pay and perks. Other trusts, such as West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust, also handed out large pay packages to their managers. Dr Michael Van Der Watt, chief medical officer at West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust, earns £357,500 a year.
The report also highlighted the case of Dame Cally Palmer, chief executive of The Royal Marsden, who took home a huge pay package of £312,500 last year. Meanwhile, Professor Stuart Walker, chief medical officer at University Hospitals of Bristol and Weston, makes a staggering £322,500. The Daily Mail’s findings have sparked concerns that much of the money lavished on the health service is not making it to the front line and is instead helping to fund ‘non-jobs’ such as diversity roles.
As the Daily Mail reported, Tory health spokesman Edward Argar said: “The Labour Government plans to hand generous bonuses to NHS managers for simply doing what they are already paid to do as part of their jobs. Patients will rightly be shocked, and asking why Labour aren’t focusing instead on making sure those who are already very well paid are delivering the results taxpayers have a right to expect. Diverting public funds into executive bonus schemes, instead of investing that money in frontline care for patients, is simply wrong.”
Shimeon Lee, who compiled the report for the TaxPayers’ Alliance, as cited by the Daily Mail, said: “Taxpayers will be appalled that while NHS patients face prolonged waiting lists and dismal A&E performance, hundreds of senior managers are pocketing six-figure pay packets. This rich list shows that there are sky-high salaries for senior bureaucrats… that are impossible to justify. If ministers are serious about getting the NHS back on track, they need to ensure that managers of poor-performing trusts aren’t being rewarded for failure.”
The Daily Mail’s investigation found that 1,694 senior managers got £100,000 or more in total remuneration across 224 trusts. Of these, 1,557 included a salary over £100,000. A further 296 got £200,000 or more while 17 got more than £300,000. The report also highlighted the cases of Ann James, the former CEO of University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, who was paid a £382,500 salary, and Jonathan Brotherton, chief executive of University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, who received a pay package of £427,500.
A Department of Health spokesman told the Daily Mail: “This Government is introducing tough new measures in relation to senior managers’ pay, to drive progress on cutting waiting lists. The NHS should pay to attract top talent, but there can be no more rewards to failure.”
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