Outrage as Dorset doctor earns £157 an hour (From Bournemouth Echo)

Outrage as Dorset doctor earns £157 an hour

8:00am Monday 5th January 2009 in

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HEALTH chiefs in Dorset have defended their decision to pay agency doctors £157.50 an hour to treat prisoners.

They say that two incidents last year where prisoners were treated by agency medics were ‘urgent’ – requiring staff with specialist skills and knowledge.

Figures on hourly rates for agency workers were obtained by the Conservative Party under the Freedom of Information Act.

All NHS organisations were asked about the highest amount they paid to an agency worker in each month from May to October 2008.

“What we need is more full time doctors and nurses, who can get to know patients properly, rather than temporary agency staff on mega-salaries.”

The Taxpayers’ Alliance

Top of the pay-list was a Dorset prison doctor who earned £157.50 an hour in May 2008, funded by Dorset Primary Care Trust (PCT).

This was the equivalent of an annual salary of £307,125, the Tories said.

The organisation also paid £105 an hour for the services of a prison GP between June and October 2008 – which would be an annual salary of £204,750.

South Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust was found to have paid £25.78 an hour in July 2008 for the services of a telecommunications analyst, the equivalent of a £50,271 yearly wage.

The ambulance service also hired a management accountant at £23.01 an hour in June (annual salary of £44,869.50) and GP car drivers at £22.98 an hour in May 2008 (annual salary of £44,811).

The highest rate paid in the country was £187.50 an hour for an anaesthetics medical consultant used by Whipps Cross University Hospitals NHS Trust in London.

But Dorset health bosses said agency staff were only used when ‘absolutely necessary’.

A PCT spokeswoman said: “In prison healthcare, there are occasions when urgent medical cover is required at very short notice in order to continue to provide the very important healthcare services to patients in prison in Dorset.

“Agency staff that are able to provide this medical cover are required to have specialist skills, knowledge and experience of the healthcare system and therefore are able to command a higher rate for their services.”

She added that NHS Dorset was continuing to negotiate with agencies for better rates.

The agency fees are thought to be rates paid to private firms, not to the Government’s non-profit agency NHS Professionals.

Campaign group The Taxpayers’ Alliance branded the wages ‘mega-salaries’.

A spokesman said: “Agencies have creamed off millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money, whilst patients continue to receive below par care.

“What we need is more full time doctors and nurses, who can get to know patients properly, rather than temporary agency staff on mega-salaries.”