Star comment: Pay chiefs what they deserve
You do not hear people saying that we are all in it together quite so much as they once did, but the principle that the better off should share the sacrifices that have been made by the less well off remains the same.
Peter Herring is in charge of the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford and as part of the deal on which he was hired, his pay was due to go up by 4.3 per cent this month.
That percentage rise is a lot more than virtually anybody else is enjoying when their own pay is reviewed, both in the private and the public sector.
Quite a few will have had their pay frozen, which is the equivalent of a pay cut because of the effect of inflation.
Now to the figures in terms of hard cash. That pay rise would have taken his salary up to £192,000 in his role as chief executive at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust. For ordinary working people, that would represent a handsome lottery win, something to dream of.
Mr Herring has chosen not to take this latest increase. He, and people in positions of equivalent responsibility, are in a difficult position. With increases in their salaries of that magnitude, they are inevitably going to be in the firing line and have a whole load of criticism heaped upon them, with accusations of greed and having their snouts in the trough.
Shropshire hospitals chief turns down 4.3% pay rise
Yet, by and large, they are not making the rules of the game. And while the men and the women at the top in the NHS are well rewarded for the skills and expertise they bring to the job within a public service, just consider for a moment the obscene amounts the bankers have been paid in bonuses which have encouraged a pattern of reckless behaviour which brought the country's economy to its knees.
Mr Herring is being paid peanuts when compared to the huge amounts paid to footballers, entertainers and so on. And having capable and effective managers is an investment. They save money, and they make money.
The idea of holding down or reducing salary levels in the top tier of public service would undoubtedly have supporters, but would deter "star players" who could earn far more elsewhere.
Paying for quality is not money down the drain. But those who enjoy these salaries have a responsibility to prove they are worth every penny.
