A recent report reveals that nearly 600 National Health Service (NHS) executives are earning base salaries exceeding that of the Prime Minister. This figure represents a 12 percent increase from the previous year, according to findings from the TaxPayers' Alliance. The report, covering the 2024-25 financial year, shows that 574 senior managers received salaries above the Prime Minister's entitlement of £182,000.
In total, 1,758 senior executives received six-figure remuneration packages, a 4 percent rise. Furthermore, 292 individuals earned at least £300,000, more than doubling from the previous year with a 134 percent surge. These figures emerge amid concerns about persistently long waiting lists for patient care.
Calls for reform have intensified, with critics urging the government to ensure that spending is directed towards frontline services rather than executive compensation. Shadow health secretary Stuart Andrew stated that while managers should be rewarded for results, paying large bonuses while patients experience poor care is not a good use of taxpayer money. He argued that funding should prioritize patient care over increased payouts for managers.
Anne Strickland, a researcher at the TaxPayers' Alliance, expressed concern that soaring executive pay is occurring while patients continue to wait for treatment. She suggested that the current government has an opportunity to curb excessive pay and link performance to compensation, holding underperforming executives accountable.
The report highlighted specific cases, including Ged Murphy, the chief executive of East Cheshire NHS Trust, who received between £375,000 and £380,000 in total remuneration. This increase from the previous year's £170,000 to £175,000 came despite the trust being identified as having the worst A&E waiting times for the preceding month. East Cheshire NHS Trust met the standard of admitting, transferring, or discharging 95 percent of A&E patients within four hours for less than half of its attendees, significantly below the national average of approximately 75 percent. Mr. Murphy is scheduled to retire at the end of the current month.
Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, also noted for its poor A&E and referral waiting times, saw its medical director, Kevin Sargen, receive between £540,000 and £545,000 in total remuneration. Additionally, Dr. George Findlay, chief executive of University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, received a package valued between £490,000 and £495,000, which included a bonus of £30,000 to £35,000. NHS Lanarkshire's medical director, Dr. Chris Deighan, earned between £460,000 and £465,000, despite the health board consistently ranking last in Scotland for A&E waiting times.
The figures encompass managerial roles across more than 200 NHS trusts in Britain. The report comes as approximately 6.16 million patients, across 7.28 million cases, are on waiting lists, with 2.5 million waiting over 18 weeks and about 105,000 awaiting treatment for over a year.
Previous government initiatives aimed to address this issue. In November 2024, former health secretary Wes Streeting introduced rules to link senior NHS managers' pay to performance, offering bonuses of up to 10 percent for high-performing leaders and docking pay for those who fail to meet targets. Temporary pay increases of up to 15 percent, capped at £45,000, were also introduced in struggling areas to attract talent, which may partially explain some of the remuneration increases.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health stated that competitive salaries are necessary to attract and retain talent, ultimately improving patient services. They emphasized that pay is now linked to performance, with only high-performing leaders being rewarded and those failing to improve services and reduce waiting times no longer receiving automatic pay rises. All trusts were contacted for comment regarding the report's findings.