STRUGGLING ambulance trusts paid out more than £11 million on senior management salaries in just one year, according to union research published today.

The GMB reports that the top earners at ambulance trusts pocketed between £11.3 and £11.6 million in the 2016-17 financial year.

The highest amount paid was to South East Coast Ambulance Service (Secamb)’s strategy director and acting chief executive Geraint Davies, who trousered some £575,000 in a single year.

Secamb was also the service that paid the highest amount to its top brass, with more than £1.45m paid to senior administrators and managers.

The GMB, which organises ambulance drivers, contends that this money could be better spent. National secretary Rehana Azam said: “Our ambulance trusts are running on ‘empty.’

“They’ve no money to hire and train the staff they need to save lives. They’re relying on increasingly old equipment, and demand on their scarce resources is rocketing.

“GMB’s ambulance members are working round the clock, saving lives — they don’t want to hear their trust’s meagre budget is being splashed on top-brass salaries.

“£11 million pounds would pay more than 300 much needed paramedics’ salaries for a year.

“Many of our members are locked into a three-year deal that doesn’t even give them a real-terms pay rise.

“Eyewatering salaries for the bosses while ambulance staff suffer is not good enough. We need fairness in NHS pay now.”

A Seacamb spokesperson said: “This is a completely inaccurate representation of the salary of our former director and acting chief executive, who left the organisation in March 2017.



“The figure quoted as ‘salary’ includes £210-215,000 as salary for the year, which includes contractual payments covering notice period and holiday pay plus a figure of £367,500 - £370,000 given for ‘pension related benefit’.



“We are committed to increasing frontline staff numbers. However, the comparison made is not like-for-like as the pension contributions made by the Trust to paramedics is not included.



“All chief executive salaries are approved by our regulators, NHS Improvement and the Treasury.”

