Record number of NHS bosses earn more than £110,000 per year – with best paid exec on £300k

RECORD numbers of NHS bosses earn more than £110,000 a year, figures show.

There are now 2,591 high-ranking managers across England’s 215 NHS trusts.

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The army of executives and directors earn at least £110,000 a year, with the best paid on £300,000.

The total has more than doubled from 2014 to June 2024, when it cost more than £285million a year.

But while the managerial bill balloons, waiting lists have doubled, A&E delays are soaring and patient satisfaction is in freefall.

Dr Sean Phillips, of the Policy Exchange think tank, said: “The Government should review the volume of very senior managers and look at whether NHS managers across the board have the right skills and competencies needed.”

Fewer than 1,000 NHS managers earned six-figure salaries in 2014.

The surge is largely down to inflation but also the need to recruit those with the skills to manage increasingly large and complex trusts.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said he will dock the pay of managers in failing trusts.

He insisted: “We’re going really hard at the layers of bureaucracy in the NHS.”

But Shimeon Lee, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “It’s staggering that bureaucracy is booming behind the scenes.”