- NHS Rich List finds that 574 senior NHS managers had higher salaries than the prime minister, an increase of 12 per cent in a single year.
- 1,758 senior managers received more than £100,000 in total remuneration in 2024-25. This is an increase of 3.8 per cent from 2023-24.
- The number of NHS senior managers receiving at least £300,000 in total remuneration more than doubled to 292 people. An increase of 134 per cent in a single year.
- TaxPayers’ Alliance research presents senior salaries alongside A&E waiting times, revealing failing hospital bosses taking pay rises in defiance of Labour pledge to link pay and performance.
Following the appointment of Yvette Cooper as the new health secretary, the TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA) today reveals there were 574 senior managers in the NHS on a higher salary than the prime minister last year.
The NHS Rich List shows that across the 220 NHS Trusts, 1,758 senior managers received over £100,000 in total remuneration, with the number of NHS senior managers receiving at least £300,000 in total remuneration more than doubling to 292.
While few would disagree with paying doctors and nurses properly, the NHS Rich List shows that managers in hospitals with poor A&E performance and long waiting times from referral to treatment (RTT) are still picking up handsome remuneration packages at taxpayers’ expense.
Total remuneration includes salary, expenses, benefits, bonuses and pension contributions. Looking at salaries alone, 1,603 managers had salary entitlements of at least £100,000, including 319 receiving between £200,000 and £300,000, and 17 who received over £300,000.
After the previous health secretary Wes Streeting announced that NHS leaders would face a new carrot and stick performance drive, the TPA is calling on the new health secretary Yvette Cooper to follow through with these plans and properly link performance to pay inside the NHS.
The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals had the senior manager with the highest salary in 2024-25, with chief executive, J Mackey, receiving £377,500, including up to £94,000 moonlighting in other NHS jobs. The trust was ranked 41 out of 140 in England for A&E waiting times.
The worst performing trust for A&E waiting times was East Cheshire for the second consecutive year. The chief executive officer, G J Murphy, had a total remuneration package of £377,500 in 2024-25, rising from £172,500 in 2023-24 despite the persistent poor A&E waiting times. The trust had 7 senior managers who received over £100,000 in total remuneration overall.
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough had the worst referral to treatment waiting time of 149 trusts, ranking last for the second consecutive year. The chief medical director, Catherine Walsh, had total remuneration of £322,500 in 2024-25.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL RESEARCH
Key findings:
- In 2024-25, there were 1,758 senior managers receiving £100,000 or more in total remuneration (comprising salary, expenses, benefits, bonuses and pension benefits) across 220 NHS trusts, an increase of 3.8 per cent from 2023-24.
- Of these, 1,603 had a salary of £100,000 or more, comprising:
- 17 who had salaries over £300,000
- 319 who had salaries between £200,000 and £300,000
- 1,267 who had salaries between £100,000 and £200,000
- 574 senior managers had a salary greater than the prime minister’s £172,153 salary entitlement in 2024-25, up from 512 in 2023-24, an increase of 12 per cent.
- 574 senior managers had a salary greater than the prime minister’s £172,153 salary entitlement in 2024-25, up from 512 in 2023-24, an increase of 12 per cent.
- The number of NHS senior managers receiving at least £300,000 in total remuneration increased by 134 per cent in a single year, rising from 125 in 2023-24 to 292 in 2024-25.
Highest salary
- The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals had the senior manager with the highest salary in 2024-25, with chief executive, J Mackey, receiving £377,500 (£382,500 total remuneration). The trust was ranked 41 out of 140 in England for A&E waiting time.
- This was followed by West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals, where chief medical officer, M Van Der Watt, received £372,500 in 2024-25 (£372,500 total remuneration).
- Next was Guy’s and St Thomas’, where chief executive, I Abbs, received a salary of £337,500 in 2024-25 (£347,500 total remuneration).
Highest salary in Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish NHS organisations
- Crawford McGuffie, medical director at NHS Ayrshire and Arran, was the senior manager with the highest salary in Scotland in 2024-25, at £247,500. The trust was ranked 11 of 14 for A&E waiting times in Scotland.
- C Shillabeer, chief executive of Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, had the highest salary of any senior manager in Wales in 2024-25 at £262,500. The health board was ranked 6 of 7 for RTT waiting time and 7 of 7 for A&E waiting time in Wales.
- South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust had the senior manager with the highest salary in Northern Ireland in 2024-25, with medical director, C Martyn, receiving £242,500.
Notable individuals
- Nottingham University Hospitals was ranked 133 of 149 for RTT waiting times and 131 of 140 for A&E waiting times in England. Their chief nurse, T Pilcher, had total remuneration of £712,500 in 2024-25.
- Chesterfield Royal Hospital was ranked 136 of 149 for RTT waiting times and 124 of 140 for A&E waiting times in England. Their medical director, Kevin Sargen, had a total remuneration of £542,500 in 2024-25.
- University Hospitals Sussex was ranked 144 of 149 for RTT waiting times and 122 of 140 for A&E waiting times in England. Their chief executive, George Findley, received £492,500 in total remuneration in 2024-25, including £32,500 in performance pay.
- Cardiff and Vale University Health Board was ranked last (7 of 7) for RTT waiting times and 5 of 7 for A&E waiting times in Wales. Executive director of therapies and health science, Emma Cooke, received £367,500 in total remuneration in 2024-25.
- NHS Lanarkshire ranked 14 of 14 for A&E waiting times in Scotland. Their medical director, C Deighan, received £462,500 in total remuneration in 2024-25.
Best and worst performing trusts by A&E waiting time (England)
- Humber Teaching had the best A&E waiting time of 140 trusts. Six senior managers received over £100,000 in remuneration. The senior manager with the highest total remuneration in the trust was medical director, Kwame Opoku-Fofie, at £272,500 in 2024-25.
- East Cheshire remained the worst performing trust for A&E waiting times for the second consecutive year, ranking last in both 2023-24 and 2024-25. The chief executive officer, G J Murphy, had total remuneration of £377,500 in 2024-25, rising from £172,500 in 2023-24 despite the persistent poor A&E waiting times.
Best and worst performing trusts by RTT waiting time (England)
- Mersey Care had the best RTT waiting time of 149 trusts. The senior manager with the highest total remuneration in the trust was chief nurse and director of infection, prevention and control, Jenny Hurst, at £297,500 in 2024-25.
- Cambridgeshire and Peterborough had the worst RTT waiting time of 149 trusts, ranking last for the second consecutive year. The chief medical director, Catherine Walsh, had total remuneration of £322,500 in 2024-25.
Highest salary by function
- Digital: Neil Darvill, chief digital information officer shared between North Bristol and University Hospitals Bristol and Weston, had the highest salary within this function at £195,000 in 2024-25.
- HR: Ajit Abraham, group director of inclusion and equity at Barts Health, had the highest salary within this function at £232,500 in 2024-25.
- Strategy: Shane Gordon, director of strategy, research and innovation at East Suffolk and North Essex, had the highest salary within this function at £247,500 in 2024-25.
- Finance: Roy Clarke, chief financial officer at King’s College Hospital, had the highest salary within this function at £267,500 in 2024-25.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL RESEARCH
Responding to the findings, Rt. Hon Stuart Andrew MP, Shadow Health Secretary, said: “Running the NHS is a demanding job and managers should be rewarded for delivering results. But paying managers large bonuses while patients receive poor care is not good value for taxpayers or fair on NHS frontline staff.
“Labour is handing out bonuses while patients bear the brunt of long waits and poor performance. Funding should be focused on frontline services and better patient care, not bigger payouts for managers.
“The Conservatives know the NHS needs serious reform. Every pound should deliver better care for patients and better value for taxpayers.”
Anne Strickland, researcher at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Taxpayers will be appalled that NHS executive pay is soaring while patients are still left waiting for care.
“Andy Burnham’s new government has an early opportunity to show taxpayers that it will get a grip on this culture of rewarding failure.
“Ministers must keep their promise to link performance to pay, so that failing NHS bosses are held accountable and money goes into patients’ care not managers’ pockets. ”