Hundreds of NHS bosses are pocketing more than £100,000 a year despite failing to bring down waiting lists, a report reveals today.
Amid record sums being poured in by taxpayers, nearly 1,700 fat cat NHS bureaucrats were handed the bumper sum in pay, pensions, bonuses, expenses and payoffs.
Meanwhile, 512 senior managers banked salaries greater than the Prime Minister’s (£172,153) – with nearly 300 on £200,000 or more.
The first of its kind UK-wide ‘NHS Rich List’ also found several were handed bonuses and ‘golden goodbyes’ of up to £150,000, while others left the health service with pension pots worth over £1million.
Last night Scottish Tory chief whip Alexander Burnett said: ‘Health boards across Scotland need more junior doctors, more nurses and more paramedics — not more chiefs.
‘Scots are seeing ambulance turnaround times of up to 18 hours but also big wage bills at the top.
‘The SNP have let this situation happen on their watch. They must fix the problem their lack of attention has caused.’
According to the TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA) campaign group, which carried out the study, the manager earning the most in Scotland in 2023-24 was Paul Bachoo, acute medical director and portfolio lead (surgery and clinical support) at NHS Grampian, with a total remuneration of £242,500.
This was despite the TPA finding that the board was ranked 12th worst out of 14 on waiting times between referral and treatment in Scotland, and 10th out of 14 for A&E waiting times.
Catherine Cowan, who has now left her post at NHS Forth Valley, was the highest-earning NHS chief executive in Scotland in 2023-24, with total remuneration of £217,500, including an exit package of £70,347.
The board came third out of 14 for referral to treatment waiting times and 13th out of 14 for A&E waiting times.
The former NHS Lanarkshire chief executive Professor Jann Gardner received £157,500 in total remuneration in 2023-24.
The TPA ranked the board 13th out of 14 for referral to treatment waiting times and 14th out of 14 for A&E waiting times.
Professor Gardner became chief executive of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde on February 1.
An NHS Grampian spokesman said: ‘Salaries are set nationally and conform to Scotland’s national public sector pay policy.
‘These figures are adjusted and ratified through the National Performance Management Committee process.
‘In general terms, many staff in senior medical executive or director roles, will also still be combining that strategic position with active clinical duties with patients.
‘That could include everything from clinics to surgery.’
NHS Forth Valley said it is one of the best performing NHS boards in Scotland ‘in relation to waiting times for outpatient appointments, day treatment and planned surgical operations’.
A spokesman said: ‘Arrangements for all staff who leave or retire are agreed in line with NHS contractual arrangements and relevant Scottish Government guidance.
‘This would also take into account any outstanding annual leave, notice period and transitional arrangements.’
NHS Lanarkshire referred enquiries to the Scottish Government.
The figures, covering more than 200 trusts and boards, as they are known in Scotland, for the 2023-24 financial year, will anger the millions of patients still stuck on waiting lists across the UK.
It emerged in March that more than 10,000 patients in Scotland had died ‘in limbo’ on an NHS waiting list for the second year in a row.
Official figures also show a trebling of fatalities among patients needing specialist care.
First Minister John Swinney has said his objective this year was to reduce the total on waiting lists, which have topped more than 800,000 – the equivalent of one in six Scots.
The most recent data also showed nearly one in three patients in Scotland had to wait more than four hours to be seen at A&E, with 10.5 per cent waiting more than eight hours and 4.3 per cent for longer than 12 hours.
The TPA study will also fuel suspicions that much of the money lavished on the health service is not making it to the frontline and is instead helping to fund ‘non-jobs’ such as diversity roles.
Shimeon Lee, the TPA analyst who compiled the report, 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.
‘No one disputes that frontline staff deserve decent pay, but this rich list shows that there are sky-high salaries for senior bureaucrats, many in underachieving trusts, 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 and boards aren’t being rewarded for failure, put patients first, and ensure best practice is spread throughout the health service.’
In total, the study found 1,694 senior managers got £100,000 or more in total remuneration across 224 trusts and boards.
Of these, 1,557 included a salary over £100,000. A further 296 got £200,000 or more while 17 received over £300,000.
The highest went to Ann James, the former CEO of University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, who got a £397,500 total pay package, including £382,500 salary.
The trust was ranked 95 out of 136 in England for A&E waiting times.
One of the highest total pay packages (£427,500), including a £262,500 salary and £166,250 in pension-related benefits, went to Jonathan Brotherton, CEO of University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust.
The trust was ranked 128 of 149 for referral-to-treatment waiting times and 119 of 136 for A&E waiting times in England.
George Findlay, the CEO of University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, was handed a £32,500 bonus – on top of his £222,500 salary – despite it ranking 143 of 149 and 105 of 136 for the same targets respectively.
By contrast, Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust had the best referral-to-treatment waiting times. Its CEO, Joe Rafferty, got a total pay package of £257,500.
Other eyebrow-raising salaries included North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust giving its ‘chief people officer’, Louise Tibbert, a £257,500 salary.
The TPA study related to managerial roles at NHS trusts and not NHS England, the quango which runs the health service but which is being scrapped by the UK Government.
Earlier this month, UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting announced plans to have annual pay rises docked under tough new measures aimed at improving NHS performance and driving progress on cutting waiting lists.
Bonuses of up to 10 per cent will be on offer for top performing trusts under the new ‘carrot and stick’ approach.
The UK Government health department was contacted for comment.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘The salaries of NHS Scotland chief executives and senior staff are independently assessed and reflect their roles as leaders of large and complex public sector organisations providing vital services.’