News story: The Sun Military Awards 2017 open for nominations
The 10th annual ‘Millies’ have been launched by The Sun newspaper and the Ministry of Defence. read more
Author Archives: GovWorldMag
Senior medics rake in £15k a head as NHS bonuses soar
10 Jul 2017
Bonuses were paid to thousands of leading NHS consultants last year, averaging more than £15,000 per head, it has been revealed.
Research by the Scottish Conservatives has shown £43 million was awarded in 2016/17 in the form of distinction awards and discretionary points.
They go to consultants and other senior medics deemed to have performed above expectation, and the figure has increased by nearly £6 million in the space of a year.
The statistics – obtained through Freedom of Information – show £43,038,750 was paid to 2858 recipients in the last 12 months.
The rise occurred despite SNP pledges to cut down on the bonus culture within Scotland’s NHS at a time of financial restraint.
In 2010, when she was health secretary, Nicola Sturgeon pledged to bring the issue under control.
But these increasing figures show more than £100,000 in taxpayers’ cash is being spent on these awards every day.
NHS Greater and Glasgow and Clyde paid out the most, handing senior medics more than £10 million last year.
Other big spenders included Lothian (£6 million), Tayside (£3.6 million), Grampian (£3.5 million) and Lanarkshire (£3.1 million).
Scottish Conservative shadow health secretary Miles Briggs said:
“There’s nothing wrong with hardworking medical professionals being incentivised and rewarded for their work.
“And of course there’s an acceptance that the NHS has to pay competitively if it wants the best staff.
“But senior medics like consultants are already very well remunerated, and many – including NHS workers further down the chain – will question the sheer scale of these payments.
“The NHS is extremely hard up for cash, and these are payments worth tens of millions of pounds.
“It’s another example of the SNP government saying it’s going to do something, then forgetting about it more or less immediately.
“Scotland’s NHS deserves a government at Holyrood which pays more attention.”
Notes to editors:
To see the full figures visit:
http://www.scottishconservatives.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Bonuses-FOI.xlsx
Nicola Sturgeon pledged to crack down on the NHS bonus culture in 2010, and has been repeatedly criticised for failing to do so:
http://www.scotsman.com/news/msps-criticise-rise-in-nhs-consultant-bonuses-1-3739947
read morePolice Community Surgeries in the West End #dundeewestend
The next West End Police Surgery takes place at Blackness Library today – details below : read more
8 missing after fishing boat sinks in E China
Rescuers are searching for eight people missing after a fishing boat sank early Monday morning in the waters off east China’s Zhejiang Province, according to local maritime police. The boat, with 24 people onboard, sank around 2 a.m. at sea near the c… read more
Housing and planning
Last Tuesday the Communities Secretary of State made a speech about the need to build more homes and to provide more affordable accommodation. His intention to get many more homes built was clear. His local government audience had mixed feelings about the message and the means to bring it about.
Some local authorities do not have up to date local plans. The Minister was right to stress to them the continuing need to do this. Developers and owners of property look to the Council to set out in a plan which areas are protected, where development may occur, and how the Council will provide infrastructure to support new development. There is a need for some new development in most communities, and a need to relate this to the roadspace, public transport, schools, health facilities and the rest that are available.
The problems come more when there is an extant local plan. The Council may decide to concentrate the development of new homes in a limited number of places. This makes it easier to provide the services and transport links, and protects more residents elsewhere from additional development they may not want. A Council may set out enough space for the likely or required build rate.
If the developers who own or control these chosen sites do not then build at a fast enough rate to meet the targets, they or others may put in for planning permission elsewhere in the area. The Council will turn it down as against the plan. Then the Inspector on appeal may grant it on the grounds the Council is not hitting its build rate!
Because we have created such artificial scarcity by inviting in many migrants and not building enough homes, this gaming of the system can be profitable. The conversion of brownfield or greenfield to development land usually results in a big uplift in values, so why wouldn’t a developer want to exploit it?
The UK is both wedded to a planning system, and very critical of its results. This is another difficult disagreement between developers and Councils. I am exploring ways that we can reconcile these differences of view and approach between Councils, Inspectors and developers. We need to control development in a sensible way and bring demand and supply for new homes into better balance.
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