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NHS Rich List
We all know the health service isn’t exactly firing on all cylinders at the moment. From delays being seen in A&E to lengthy waiting lists for treatment to the seemingly ever-present threat of strike action, the whole system’s just a bit of a mess.
Despite record funding levels (when you exclude covid spending) taxpayers aren’t getting anything like the service they’re paying for. But there’s one group that does seem to be getting an awful lot. We hear a lot about management in the NHS but just how much are they costing and are they really delivering for Brits? Well, to help answer these questions, the TPA wonks pored over the spreadsheets and have now delivered the first ever NHS Rich List ([link removed]) .
The findings are truly staggering. In 2023-24, there were 1,694 senior managers receiving more than £100,000 in total remuneration. Of these, 1,557 had salary entitlements over £100,000, including 279 receiving between £200,000 and £300,000 and 17 who received over £300,000. A total of 512 senior NHS managers had higher salaries than the prime minister!
But we didn’t just look at salaries, we looked at the performance of the trusts they work in so you can decide whether they deserved it. For example, the highest paid NHS senior manager, Ann James, chief executive of University Hospitals Plymouth, received almost £400,000 in total remuneration. This Trust ranked 95 out of 136 in England for A&E waiting times.
East Cheshire was the worst performing trust for A&E four-hour waits at 50.6 per cent yet it had eight senior managers receiving over £100,000, including the director of people and culture who received £367,500.
Cambridge and Peterborough was the worst performing trust for referral to treatment median waiting times at 32.1 weeks. This trust had 8 senior managers earning over £100,000, including their chief medical director who received £387,500.
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The findings kicked off quite the media storm and Joanna Marchong was straight up to fight for taxpayers ([link removed]) . Speaking to David Bull on Talk, she didn’t hold back: “The number of these senior managers on ridiculous pay packets has risen year on year… Many of the trusts you see with the worst performance are handing out these massive pay packets!”
The rich list really caught the attention of the media and the coverage was wall to wall. Having splashed the front page ([link removed]) of the Daily Mail ([link removed]) , our report was covered in the Times ([link removed]) , Telegraph ([link removed]) , Express ([link removed]) , LBC ([link removed]) , the Sun, Guido Fawkes ([link removed]) , and on GB News ([link removed]) to name but a few. Shimeon Lee, lead researcher on the
project told reporters: “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, many in underachieving trusts, that are impossible to justify.”
The coverage was so widespread, even Labour ministers couldn’t hide from it. Health minister, Karin Smyth, was challenged over our findings on Good Morning Britain. ([link removed]) I’ll let you decide whether you’re convinced by her answer.
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We all want a well run health service and taxpayers aren’t asking for miracles, just a bit of common sense. NHS bosses can’t be allowed to sit back on their bloated pay deals while services struggle. It’s time to cut the fat at the top and make sure every pound goes where it’s needed most.
Help us produce our next agenda-setting research by clicking here to donate ([link removed])
Saving Western civilisation with Peter Whittle
In this week’s episode of a nation of taxpayers, podcast host Duncan Barkes and William Yarwood are joined by Peter Whittle, Founder and Director of the New Culture Forum ([link removed]) .
Together they discuss the constant attacks on Great Britain's history and heritage and what can be done to stop them. Peter is also a former Deputy Leader of UKIP and offers his thoughts on the rise of Nigel Farage's Reform UK.
You can listen now to the latest episode of a nation of taxpayers on Apple Podcasts ([link removed]) , Spotify ([link removed]) , and YouTube ([link removed]) .
Hoyle’s headcount
The House of Commons’ speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, isn’t exactly known for having a thrifty streak. His enormous travel bill has already flown past the £300,000 mark ([link removed]) and now it turns out his staffing bill is on the rise. From March 2023 to February of this year, the number of employees on the speaker’s payroll has increased by more than 50 per cent to 19, while the bill itself has almost doubled to over £1 million! ([link removed])
Perhaps unsurprisingly, John O’Connell was less than impressed. John hit the nail on the head ([link removed]) when he spoke to the Daily Mail: “The Speaker seems to be having a jolly old time racking up the spending with a growing posse of staff adding to the soaring travel costs… Lindsay Hoyle should look at himself in one of his many grand mirrors and ask whether he's really showing taxpayers and their cash the respect it deserves.”
On the wrong track
Last Sunday saw the first of Labour’s railway nationalisations as South Western Railway was brought into public ownership (in a possible sign of things to come, the first service was a bus replacement). But are state-run railways really the answer for Britain's beleaguered train network? ([link removed])
Edward Bennett has taken a look and it doesn’t look like the future is very bright for passengers ([link removed]) . As Edward writes: “For Britain, the creation and use of quangos for development of infrastructure is our vice that is squeezing the public sector to its breaking point. Trains are slow, and instead of increasing the speed and productivity of already existing networks, the already subsidised rail system’s modernisation will be impeded by rising costs of poorly managed infrastructure projects like HS2… Are we to believe that it will be different this time with the newly created quango Great British Railways (GBR)?”
Read Edward’s blog in full here ([link removed]) .
It’s just not cricket
While managers in NHS trusts are raking it in, you might be wondering how those working in the department of health, the government department responsible for, on paper at least, overseeing the health service are up to. I’m not about to give you another run through of eye-watering pay packets, but you’ll probably be as unimpressed as we were to learn that health department bureaucrats splashed out £3,150 hiring a function room at The Oval for a team away day. ([link removed])
A caught-out spokesman tried to claim this was all a thing of the past but there’s no spinning it as anything other than a silly waste of taxpayers’ cash. Going out to bat for taxpayers ([link removed]) , William hit it for six when telling Sun readers: “Even if no cricket was watched, there’s no excuse for this kind of wasteful spending when budgets are tight.”
One last thing
In the time it’s taken you to read this, our national debt ([link removed]) has increased by £1,885,500. Happy Sunday…
Benjamin Elks
Grassroots Development Manager
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