Mad with Money

The NHS is never out of the news for one reason or another, but one thing that deserves more attention is the way that the health service wastes money, as in this case study reported in The Times recently.

I had to ask myself why if someone is so committed to the NHS, why that person thinks it's OK to be drawing two salaries - both from the public purse it seems.

But this kind of cavalier attitude towards public money is endemic throughout the NHS with doctors and consultants routinely employed in managerial posts which are  paid the much higher salary rates of medical staff.

 Sadly, the money being thrown at Jo-Anne Wass is just the tip of the iceberg.    

NHS chief quits but gets £310,000 over two years

Katherine Murphy: this surely cannot be justified

By Chris Smith

The NHS has agreed to carry on paying the £155,000 salary of a senior manager for two years after she leaves her job in a deal that campaigners say is “baffling”.

Jo-Anne Wass, national director for human resources and organisation development at NHS England, is leaving for a consultancy post at the University of Leeds, but bosses said that she would continue to be paid from health service funds because of the “real benefits” of closer links between education and the NHS.

Although the post is a secondment, Ms Wass has made it clear to her employers that she will not return to her NHS role.

She takes up the job of organisational development consultant at the university next month. NHS England said that she would “play a central role in shaping a model of co-operation between the university and the wide range of national and local NHS bodies”.

Katherine Murphy, chief executive of the Patients Association, said: “In an era of unprecedented financial shortages in the NHS, this surely cannot be justified. How many nurses or doctors, more of which are desperately needed on our hospital wards, could this money have paid for?

“This is paying two people for doing the same job, once the replacement comes in. Surely a less expensive way can be found to promote links between healthcare and education in Leeds?”

Jonathan Isaby, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “The NHS has been dogged by poor management of expensive staff contracts, which has wasted taxpayers’ money and put extra pressure on the health budget. It’s baffling that the NHS can even consider an arrangement where it continues to pay for a health executive not actually working for it as a worthwhile use of taxpayers’ money. It’s not the job of the NHS to pay for consultants at universities, so deals like this should come to a swift end.”

In a leaving statement, Ms Wass said: “I have made this decision with mixed emotions. Having worked in the NHS for 25 years, my dedication and commitment to it remains strong. However, my close colleagues will tell you that I have always been passionate about the power of education to change lives, create opportunity and social mobility, and ultimately improve health.”

Challenged on the deal, a spokeswoman said: “NHS England has agreed with Jo-Anne to pay her salary for up to two years while she is on secondment. There are real benefits to encouraging the links between local education and the healthcare sector. This is particularly true in Leeds, where the NHS and the university are two of the city’s largest employers and it is crucial they have a strong relationship.”

The arrangement was also defended by Sir David Nicholson, chief executive of NHS England, who said that the secondment presented not only “a good personal career development opportunity” for Ms Wass “in a sector which she is passionate about”, but also one that would draw upon her skills and knowledge “for the benefit of both the NHS and the University of Leeds”.

Ms Wass, who has spent her NHS career in HR, training, leadership development and communication, is one of a string of board members to quit NHS England since it was founded two years ago.

Bill McCarthy, its policy director, announced that he was to leave for a job at the University of Bradford. Sir David retires at the end of the month.