Embattled NHS England boss Sir David Nicholson plans to retire next year, with a pension pot worth almost £1.9 million.
The chief executive officer, whose basic salary is £211,000, will step down from his role next March.
Campaigners called for the under-fire boss to be sacked after the publication of the Francis report into serious failings at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust.
Instead of getting the axe, Sir David will walk away with a pension pot of at least £1,875,000 when he retires, according to NHS figures published in March last year.
Sir David, who has worked in the health service for 35 years, was in charge of the regional health authority responsible for Mid Staffordshire for a short period while patients were being mistreated.
Julie Bailey, from the campaign group Cure The NHS, said: “It is an obscene amount of money for failure. He will be able to enjoy the rest of his life, unlike us we are left with memories of our loved ones suffering under his watch.”
Ms Bailey, who set up the campaign group after her mother Bella died at Stafford Hospital in 2007, was still optimistic about Sir David’s departure, adding: “This is the start of the cure for the NHS.”