Big bucks for top brass in NHS Ayrshire and Arran

The online Scottish Review revealed last week that the drastic cuts being endured by the NHS leave the most privileged untouched. This year’s figures show that two Ayrshire and Arran administrators receive the highest pay of any NHS area, one of them rejoicing in a substantial increase. Dr Robert Masterton, medical director of NHS Ayrshire and Arran, is the highest earner in the entire Scottish service at £245,000 a year. This in fact is a slight reduction from the pay cheque of £260,000 he received last year, but still leaves him comfortably top of the league.

Dr Carol Davidson (pictured left), director of public health at NHS Ayrshire and Arran, enjoyed a salary hike from £180,000 to £205,000. The increase of £25,000 would have paid an experienced nurse for 12 months.

Although the governments in Edinburgh and London have been warning about the need for extreme moderation in spending, these NHS salary rises represent an increase of 18%. Such profligacy seems unjustifiable in the present context of stringent cuts that affect both patients and medical workers.

The Scottish Review figures are drawn from the study published this week by OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), which shows that the pay gap between the highest and lowest earners in the UK has grown more quickly than in any other high-income country. We in Arran and Ayrshire are lumbered with not one, but two, of the highest earners in Scotland. Robert Masterton leads the pack with his £245,000, closely followed by the £240,000 earned by David Farquharson, Medical Director, NHS Lothian. Next comes Eric Baijal, Director of Public Health, NHS Borders, with £210,000, then Carol Davidson of NHS Ayrshire and Arran with her £205,000.

This record is not, in our view, a matter for pride. On the contrary, in a Scottish district with record unemployment and a history of endemic social deprivation, it should be a cause of shame.