£100,000 Halton Hospital director hired as 200 jobs are axed (From Runcorn and Widnes World)

Unions slam Halton Hospital for hiring director as 200 jobs go

10:17am Thursday 14th March 2013 in News By Hannah Bargery

HOSPITAL bosses have been slammed after a job advert for a deputy chief executive appeared online two days after it was revealed 200 jobs are being cut.

A £110,000 salary is being offered to the new director of finance and commercial development, including the role of deputy chief executive.

Hospital chiefs said the move will mean one less executive post in the trust as the roles of the current director of finance, and the director of corporate and commercial development, are combined, as both members of staff are leaving.

But Andy Rutherford, Unison regional organiser, believes the money would be better spent funding two or three nurses.

He said: “We have been told they need to have that post in place but we don’t necessarily agree with that.

“In a time of redundancies they should be looking at and questioning every single post.

“Morale is rock bottom as everybody is working flat out and the job cuts and this role being advertised is just kicking them.

“It creates one rule for a few over the majority.”

Mr Rutherford said the deputy chief executive’s salary could fund two or three nurses’ jobs or health care support workers.

Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has to save £11m in the next year but is confident complusory redundancies can be avoided.

Mel Pickup, chief executive of Warrington and Halton Hospitals said:“The director of finance role is a statutory one that all hospitals must have in place so we have had to advertise at this time.

“ However, we have reviewed our senior structure and will be reducing the executive team by not replacing another director post. When I spoke to staff last week around the national efficiency challenge that we are facing, I made it very clear that it is something that we are looking at across all areas.

“Reducing the executive posts is a clear demonstration of this and how can work to restructure when opportunities come up.”