Cash-strapped NHS Fife has defended its hiring practices amid allegations that it paid “hugely enhanced” salaries for consultants on a part-term contract.
Cowdenbeath MSP Helen Eadie hit out after she obtained information that the health board which is seeking £13.5 million in efficiency savings had advertised for a locum dermatology consultant at a rate of £3500 per week.
A letter sent out by recruitment firm Consultant Recruitment Services (CRS), and seen by The Courier, said the salary would be topped up by travel expenses and free accommodation.
On a pro-rata basis that would mean the cost was roughly twice the average salary for a full-time consultant.
Mrs Eadie said she had taken the matter up with NHS Fife and was told by senior officials the situation was not out of the ordinary a claim rejected by the health board.
“When I was first made aware that NHS Fife were going to pay such a hugely enhanced package for a contract consultant I was both surprised and initially thought it must be an oversight,” said Mrs Eadie.
“But I was told clearly by senior health board officials that not only had this happened but it was not an isolated incident. The financial costs do not only include wages for consultants but also travel allowance, accommodation costs and agency fees on top.”Public domainMrs Eadie, who was passed the letter by a concerned doctor, said the revelations would cause particular concern due to controversial plans to cut services at NHS Fife to save money.
“NHS Fife need to put all of these contract deals in the public domain so that taxpayers can see for themselves if they are getting value for money,” she said. “The health board are looking to save just over £300,000 in closing the palliative care ward at Queen Margaret Hospital (Dunfermline) and that is why these huge deals for contract consultants need the utmost level of scrutiny.
“If it’s a choice between bumper deals for consultants and agencies or the retention of the palliative care ward then I know what I’d like to see happen. I will also be looking wider than Fife to see if this type of deal is prevalent across the NHS in Scotland.”
John Wilson, NHS Fife’s chief executive of operational division, said CRS had not been working on the board’s behalf and he did not “recognise” the figure.
“We do not use this agency. Mrs Eadie hasn’t shared all the details of the letter referred to with us but we have no one employed under the conditions she has described. We also do not recognise the figures quoted in the letter,” he said.
However, he confirmed NHS Fife did use other recruitment agencies.Advertised”On the rare occasions it proves difficult to find a locum for a particular speciality at a specific time we may use a respectable off-contract agency and would ensure that a reasonable price was negotiated,” he said.
“This would only be done to cover short-term absence and would never be a long-term arrangement. All long-term positions would be advertised in the normal manner.”
He added that accounts detailing salary banding for senior staff were posted on the NHS Fife website. The £13.5 million savings being sought by NHS Fife is 3% of its overall £636 million budget and follows substantial cost increases.
Closing the palliative care ward at QMH is an option put forward as a cost-cutting measure saving £320,000 a year. A decision will be taken by NHS Fife operational division on July 13.
Consultant dermatologists usually earn between £75,000 and £100,000 a year.
No one from CRS was available for comment.