Government pay submissions drawn up earlier this year show a 65 per cent increase in pay for NHS top managers over the past decade. This is more than three times the increase seen by workers in the rest of the economy.
The increase also far exceeds increases given to the rest of the NHS workforce, with pay increases averaging 35 percent over the period, the documents show.
Payment figures for 2020/21 cover 215 NHS Trusts and over 100 Clinical Commission Groups (CCGs) across England. Since then, CCGs have been merged into larger organizations, leading to even higher top salaries.
Pay levels are set locally, under the guidance of England’s NHS, but all salaries above £150,000 must be approved by ministers.
The analysis covers only board posts, excluding thousands more doctors, with hospital consultants earning median annual earnings of £123,000 and median salary for medical associates now at £142,000.
In addition, there are 529 senior civil servants in NHS England, the Department of Health and associated quangos in six figures. NHS England is currently drawing up plans to cut its workforce of 22,000 by up to half.
Strike will mean ‘bank holiday’ service
Comes as the nurses prepare to attack on December 15 and 20, leaving hospitals operating a “holiday” service reduced to emergency and urgent care.
Rishi Sunak has said the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) demands for a 19 per cent pay rise. are “obviously unaffordable”.
Tensions are rising, with Steve Barclay, the Health Secretary, They accuse the RCN of endangering the safety of patientsby refusing to attend a key meeting to decide which services will be exempted from the strike.
In an angry exchange of letters over the weekend, Pat Cullen, the union’s general secretary, said members were willing to negotiate pay “or nothing” after Barclay urged the union to return to discuss conditions. labor.
Dr Jim McConalogue, chief executive of Civitas, a think-tank, said: “The government urgently needs to rein in pay – some of these NHS bosses will be the highest paid people in their area, an absurd situation and all.” for hard-working taxpayers struggling to pay higher taxes to fund the generous salaries of NHS executives.
“The NHS is now doing less for more and globally our health service is one of the worst at keeping people alive. Now we find out that we are paying high wages for worse service.
“Politicians tell us we should pay more taxes for healthcare only for voters to find out that top bosses are getting huge six-figure salaries thanks to these tax increases.”
Earlier this year, a Civitas report found that UK health spending cost around £10,000 per household, with the third highest share of GDP in Europe. The study also estimated that almost 50,000 people a year die in the UK for lack of effective medical intervention.
‘Restraint’ urged on top-level salaries
John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Taxpayers are fed up with seeing top civil servants receive extraordinary pay increases while nurses struggle and services suffer. Households are told one and again that they accumulate more cash for the health service, however, the salaries of top executives are reaching new heights.
“It is about time NHS bosses put their money where their mouth is and show restraint in high-level pay,” he added.
Sean Phillips, a researcher at Policy Exchange think tank, said: “High-quality management is essential to improving NHS performance, but these staggering figures force us to question whether such a disproportionate increase in pay and numbers of senior managers , compared to frontline staff – is justifiable in the current climate.
“Earlier this year, Policy Exchange found that there had been a 130% increase in the number of senior positions in England’s NHS in just two years. An urgent approach is needed to reverse the trend of over-centralization and ensure top-performing managers can make a difference in new integrated care systems, where they are needed most.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “We recognize that NHS seniors’ pay should be set at a level that enables employers to recruit, retain and motivate talented people for executive board level positions, while guarantees good value for money for the taxpayer.
“The Secretary for Health and Social Care is focused on ensuring that resources are spent on improving patient care, funds are directed to front-line services and the NHS operates as effectively and efficiently as possible.”
