Revealed: The NHS fat cats pocketing up to £300,000 a year while running floundering trusts as the longest doctors’ strike in history begins

NHS chiefs running the floundering trusts are pocketing up to £300,000 a year at a time when patients are suffering the longest strike in healthcare history.

Junior doctors are beginning an unprecedented six-day strike today, delaying care for tens of thousands of patients and experts warning the fallout could last months.

While their row over pay and conditions shows little sign of resolution, a Mail investigation found that bosses at the 11 trusts with the longest waiting times for referrals – where the average delay to treatment is more than a year – all have more earn more than the Prime Minister, some considerably.

Many have enjoyed pay rises or bonuses worth up to £30,000 on top of their high salaries, prompting critics to hit back at the 'public sector fat cats with bulging pay packages and rotten records'.

Cynically, the longest continuous strike ever by trainee doctors – with the British Medical Association seeking a 35 per cent pay rise – has been timed to coincide with traditionally the busiest week of the year to maximize disruption.

Healthcare leaders predict that more than 170,000 appointments and surgeries will be postponed, wreaking havoc on waiting lists, which have finally begun to decline from a record high of 7.7 million.

On Tuesday, critics condemned the huge salaries paid to bosses at a time when targets were routinely missed and patients left on lists, and called for them to be curbed.

Tory MP Paul Bristow, a member of the Commons health and social care committee, said most people waiting for NHS treatment would “be shocked” to hear what hospital chiefs earn.

He added: 'I'm all for paying handsomely for good work, but these huge public sector salaries, sometimes almost twice that of the Prime Minister, are being pushed through without any accountability.

'Trusts that fail to meet simple performance indicators should be prevented from paying bonuses to executives and must clearly demonstrate why they deserve a top salary.'

John O'Connell of the TaxPayers' Alliance said: 'Taxpayers are sick of public sector fat cats with bulging pay packets and rotten administration.

'Britons are told to fork out the big bucks to get the best people into healthcare, yet far too often there seems to be no link between pay and performance. These health bosses have to earn their stripes.'

Under NHS rules, patients have a legal right to have routine procedures, such as hip and knee replacements, within 18 weeks of being referred by their GP. But the 92 percent target has not been achieved since 2016.

Rishi Sunak made reducing waiting lists a priority but has warned the strikes will make it difficult to clear the backlog, which has reached record levels in the wake of Covid.

Our research found that the directors of England's NHS Trusts with the 11 worst referrals for treatment times all earned packages of at least £175,000 a year.

The Prime Minister takes home £167,391 a year. Pay levels are set by the NHS depending on the size and budget of the trust.

Boards often say that they have to pay a lot of money to attract the best candidates.

Dr. George Findlay, the chief executive of University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, which as of September has an average waiting time for planned or 'elective' care of 56 weeks, received a £280,000 package last year – including 'long-term' care insurance. 'bonus of between £25,000 and 30,000.

The trust has recently been embroiled in a safety scandal after four whistleblowers claimed patients had died unnecessarily while others were 'effectively maimed'.

Sussex Police are investigating 105 allegations of alleged medical negligence at the trust, according to a BBC investigation.

Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, which deals largely with mental health referrals, had the longest average waiting time, at one year and 16 weeks.

Carolyn Green, interim chief until April, received a total package, including pension, of £235,000, according to her 2022/2023 annual report. The salary was also for her role as director of nursing.

At Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, where the average waiting time was almost 59 weeks, chief executive Sir Mike Deegan enjoyed a package worth a whopping £295,000. Sir Mike, who left in March last year, was replaced by former nurse Mark Cubbon, who was awarded the same package.

Joanne Segasby, chief executive of James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, also earned a package worth up to £295,000, despite an average wait time of 54 weeks.

Professor Simon Constable, head of Warrington And Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, earned £250,000 including benefits. Patients at the trust had an average wait of 56 weeks in September.

Lance McCarthy, boss of the Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust in Essex, enjoyed a £20,000 increase in his package to £280,000, thanks to the 2021/2022 pension increase. His trust suffered a 54-week delay in September this year.

Liz Davenport, CEO of Torbay And South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, also received a £20,000 increase in her package to £275,000, despite the average waiting time at the trust being 54 weeks in September.

The latest strikes will put further pressure on underperforming trusts, with more than a month and a half now lost to strikes, costing around £2 billion.

A spokesperson for Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust said it has experienced 'a significant increase in demand'.

A spokesman for Torbay and South Devon said: 'Our waiting times are getting shorter: we are on target that no one will be waiting longer than 65 weeks by the end of March.'

The Princess Alexandra Trust apologized to patients left waiting, adding: 'Unprecedented demand and the impact of industrial action have led to further delays.'

A spokesperson for University Hospital Sussex said it had reduced waiting times for 10,000 patients in the last ten weeks, adding that it supported police investigations 'into some areas of surgery in the past'.