10:27am Wednesday 8th July 2009
LAST week, vast pay rises for the chairman and directors of the South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust were made public. The chairman will get a more than doubled amount – £50,000 for a part-time post.
These follow the rises in North Tees and Hartlepool Hospitals when they became NHS trusts.
The chief executive at South Tees has linked the rises to becoming a trust.
All this as the Chancellor is warning public sector staff of the need for pay restraint in the face of the economic situation.
There is talk of a pay freeze or cuts which could lead to conflict with the unions. Unison has already intimated it will cease funding some Labour MPs in marginal seats.
Such large pay rises for the directors can only have an adverse affect on the morale of essential health care workers as they see their own pay rises limited and the reputation of the services given to the patients they care for diminished by funding cuts.
Jacquie Bell, Liberal Democrat, Prospective Parliamentary Candidate, Stockton South.
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