Anger as NHS bosses pocket pay rises of up to £10,000

Published on Monday 14 December 2009 21:35

THE huge salaries commanded by top-earning employees in the public sector have come under scrutiny again after it emerged that NHS chiefs were given big pay rises as the financial crisis took hold.

Questions are being asked over why a series of pay increases worth between 5,000 and 10,000 were awarded in 2008-9 to senior Scottish NHS executives as the UK's resources were being used up trying to save the banks.

The pay rises have been highlighted in an article by Scottish Review, an online current affairs magazine.

It has also attacked the Scottish Government for making it harder to track high wages by removing a web page on public bodies, which included salaries, from its website days after the issue was raised in Holyrood by the Scottish Liberal Democrat leader, Tavish Scott.

The row has come at a time when finance secretary John Swinney has said he will consider a Lib Dem proposal to give those earning more than 100,000 a pay cut of 5 per cent. This would free up about 30 million for low-earners.

According to Scottish Review, in 2008-9 Ayrshire and Arran NHS board – one of Scotland's smallest – made its medical director, Dr Robert Masterton, the highest-paid health executive in Scotland, with a 10,000 pay rise taking him to 240,000.

There was a 10,000 pay increase for chief executive Dr Wai-yin Hatton and 5,000 more for finance director Derek Lindsay and the nursing director, Fiona McQueen. A board spokeswoman said pay rises were based on government circulars and were recommended by an independent committee.

According to the website, there were increases in other boards, including NHS Lothian, where chief executive Professor James Barbour, director of public health Dr Alison McCallum and chief operating officer James McCaffery all received 5,000 increases.

The article has reignited the debate in Holyrood over top executive pay. Mr Scott said: "Our research shows that the fat-cat pay bill costs the public purse more than 600m. Audit Scotland has warned that front-line services could be affected, as NHS boards struggle to make 200m of efficiency savings."

A spokesman for Mr Swinney said the minister had urged pay constraint for top earners and was considering Mr Scott's proposal for a cut of 5 per cent.

As for the missing online data, a Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "The information on that particular section of our website was out of date."

She added: "It has been replaced with a national public bodies directory, which is broader in coverage and provides links to the websites for all 161 devolved public bodies."

Alan Boyter, NHS Lothian director of human resources and organisational development, said: "Senior managers' pay is set by an independent evaluation committee and increases are approved by the Scottish Government.

"The senior manager salary increase for 2009-10 has not been decided, and staff on senior manager contracts have not had a pay rise in the current financial year."