West Midlands Ambulance boss in £50k pay rise
The chief executive of West Midlands Ambulance Service has been given a £50,000 pay rise, taking his salary to more than £232,000.
Anthony Marsh's salary is almost £90,000-a-year more than the Prime Minister's £142,500.
He splits his time between the West Midlands and the East of England Ambulance Service, where he is also the chief executive.
Ambulance service bosses defended the increase today saying it was cheaper than the cost of hiring another chief executive to run one of the organisations full time.
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Only a handful of civil servants in Whitehall were paid more than Dr Marsh's current salary in the past year, one of whom was Sir David Nicholson, the former chief executive of the entire NHS, who was on £250,000 to £254,999.
Dr Marsh took over the troubled East of England Ambulance Service at the beginning of the year.
David Wright, MP for Telford, said: "I know the chief executive works very hard but no public servant should be paid more than the Prime Minister."
Claire Brown, spokesman for West Midlands Ambulance Service, said: "On average, Dr Marsh works three days a week in the East of England and two days a week in the West Midlands.
"He fits his national role as the chairman of the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE), around those commitments.
"For 2014/15, Dr Marsh's total salary for work in both Trusts is £232,226.42, £50,000 of which is an uplift due to his additional duties in the East of England; clearly considerably less than the appointment of a substantive chief executive."
