The rise of the £300,000 plus NHS fatcats !

Investigation discloses doubling in number of NHS managers being paid equivalent of at least £300,000 a year, with some on as much as £620,000 annually.

The number of NHS managers being paid the equivalent of more than £300,000 a year has doubled in just 12 months, it can be disclosed.

In some cases, cash-strapped health trusts are hiring temporary executives for hundreds of thousands of pounds, an investigation by The Telegraph has found.

Patients’ groups said the “exorbitant” rates could not be justified, and nursing leaders said the sums were a “kick in the teeth” for junior staff who were refused a one per cent pay rise.

NHS board reports indicate that during 2013-14, 44 “interim” executives were employed on rates of £1,000 a day — the equivalent of £228,000 a year — compared with 24 the year before.

There was an even sharper increase at the top end of the scale. In the last financial year, 22 executives were paid the equivalent of at least £300,000 a year — compared with 11 the year before and just four in 2010-11. In most cases, the payments were not made directly to the managers, but via agencies, which were able to take a share.

More on this Telegraph story here.

With the NHS running out of money fast, and massive reductions in services and waiting lists getting ever longer, why is money being thrown at these bean counters? What makes a paper work shuffler worth massively more money than a heart or brain surgeon? I don't know. One thing is for sure, we are living in a crazy world.

Eddie