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Hospital bosses are advertising for an adviser to help decide which jobs to axe to save money - and will pay £1,000 a day for their services. The so-called 'turnaround' director will earn twice as much as the Prime Minister to oversee 'efficiency and cost-saving measures'. Details of the lucrative salary came as the NHS is being forced to make spending cutbacks, with frontline staff at risk. Campaigners warn that hundreds of doctors and nurses already face redundancy despite Government pledges to protect the overall health budget from cuts. The advert for the £1,000-a-day post was placed by Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS trust and circulated among head-hunting agencies last week. It reads: 'In light of the pressures the NHS is facing, our client requires a turnaround director with a strong financial background to lead on a number of efficiency and costsaving measures.' The successful applicant will be based at the Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford, and will work for at least six months earning the equivalent of £261,000 a year.
This compares to the £142,000 annual salary earned by David Cameron and the £259,999 paid to NHS chief executive Sir David Nicholson. Critics point out that if the hospital did not hire the consultant in the first place, bosses. ALL overseas doctors who want to work in the UK should be made to pass strict language and competence tests, a medical leader has said. The call follows a number of scandals involving foreign doctors that have resulted in the deaths of NHS patients. At present doctors from the EU are exempt from checks on their English and clinical skills, which are mandatory for medics from elsewhere in the world.
But Dr Hamish Meldrum, chairman of the British Medical Association council, called for tighter controls, saying patient safety was being jeopardised by EU rules designed to promote free movement of labour.
Dr Meldrum said the death of retired engineer David Gray, 70, after being given ten times the normal dose of diamorphine by German locum Dr Daniel Ubani had shocked British doctors. Dr Ubani, who had snatched just a few hours of sleep after flying in to work his first shift for a private probably would not need to make so many cuts. John Lister, from campaign group London Health Emergency, said: 'We've got to the point where we're spending more money sacking staff than we are caring for patients. 'There are enough managers employed by trusts as it is - they shouldn't need to take someone on to cut staff. 'For those who do lose their jobs it will rub salt in the wounds knowing that the person who helped get rid of them is earning £1,000 a day.' Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'If you want to employ someone to cut costs, they should simply be paid a percentage of the savings they achieve. 'This is yet more evidence that the NHS does have waste within it that can be cut out.' The Health Service has been ordered to cut £20billion from budgets by 2014, with frontline staff expected to bear the brunt.
Yesterday a report by the British Medical Association found some hospitals are axing up to 500 staff over the next year, including 170 nurses. Separate figures earlier this year found that up to 36,000 hospital jobs are under threat, including 2,000 nurses and 650 doctors. Campaigners also fear that patient care - and even lives - will be affected. Some GPs have already been told to restrict treatment of varicose veins, hernias and skin lesions. However, many trusts are still recruiting for posts seen as 'non jobs', such as website editors and 'change facilitators'. Luton and Dunstable NHS Trust is advertising for a £40,157-a-year sustainability officer to implement energy-saving initiatives. Oxford and Buckingham Mental Health Trust is recruiting a 'change facilitator' earning up to £34,189 a year.
Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS trust is looking for a website editor for £46,374. Lambeth Primary Care Trust is seeking two members of staff to help discourage people from smoking, earning up to £40,000 a year.
A spokesman for Mid Essex Hospital said: 'We face significant financial challenges this year so decided to seek short-term, external support to help us deliver our efficiency and cost-savings plan. 'We are looking for a highly experienced individual with a proven track record of delivering results.'
http://www.taxpayersalliance.com/media/2010/06/daily-mail-nhs-chiefs-adv...
Election offers opportunity to get better on HIV in the UK
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