Senior executive pay at the NHS needs to be scrutinised

Senior executive pay within the NHS must be scrutinised more closely, especially when there is a litany of failures being presented at a number of trusts across the country.

The argument that executive pay needs to be reflective of or at the very least competitive with other sectors is understandable. However, when the NHS is eating up a lion’s share of taxpayer revenue, executives should be expected to be held to a higher standard.

Any trust that is found wanting must be scrutinised over its executive pay because taxpayers clearly are not getting value for money.

The idea that there are 574 NHS managers across the UK who were paid more than the Prime Minister in the 2024-25 financial year will anger those that have encountered an NHS that is struggling to deliver for patients. According to analysis by the TaxPayers’ Alliance, there are 45 executives across Yorkshire with salaries higher than Starmer’s £172,153 in that year.

The highest paid staff member for a single trust was Professor Phil Wood at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust on £277,500. This is the same trust that is the subject of an independent inquiry by senior midwife Donna Ockenden into its maternity services after a BBC investigation revealed the deaths of at least 56 babies and two mothers over the past five years may have been prevented.

Prof Wood retired in 2025 and has now been replaced by Brendan Brown. Mr Brown moved over from Calderdale and Huddersfield’s trust, where he was paid £227,500 in 2024-25.

With the NHS constantly under pressure, it is important for executive pay to also be reeled in. The previous Labour administration’s work to prevent failing managers switching from trust to trust must also continue.