Shrewsbury MP questions Midlands ambulance boss's £230,000 salary

Daniel Kawczynski has said that if the matter is not resolved before Parliament reconvenes in the Autumn, he will raise the issue in Westminster.

Dr Anthony Marsh, chief executive of the West Midlands and East of England ambulance services has seen his annual pay rise by £50,000 - to £232,000

Dubbed as "the highest paid public servant you've never heard of", Dr Marsh's pay packet far exceeds that of the Prime Minister.

Mr Kawczynski said: "I spoke to Sir Graham Meldrum, the chair of the West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust Board of Directors, and also chair of the Council of Governors, about the genuine concern I have that Dr Marsh was being paid more than £230,000.

"This is double what the Prime Minister is paid. How can he justify the use of that money?

"I called him to ask him to consider the matter himself. Should any member of the public sector be paid such an amount?

"He should be taking a pay cut. I am struggling to understand how someone can be paid this amount of money when there are such pressures on the Ambulance Trust. I will ask questions about this in Parliament in September if this has not been resolved."

In July it was revealed that while Dr Marsh was based in the East on England for three days a week, the West Midlands Ambulance Service said he was representing both services "24-7".

He previously worked five days a week for the West Midlands Ambulance Service.

The ambulance service said the £50,000 increase related specifically to the work he had taken on in the East and meant an overall saving of £130,000 by not having two substantive chief executives.

Both ambulance services have faced strong criticism in the last year.

In May, the West Midlands Ambulance Service was fined £2.6m for failing to meet targets for emergency response times.

A month earlier, a report by the Care Quality Commission found the East of England service was failing to meet four out of six key targets.

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