Health board’s £1.1 million salary bill.

Jun 24 2011 by Lisa Boyle, Ayrshire Post (main ed)

THE wage bill for just 23 members of Ayrshire and Arran health board tops £1million.

And a further £165,000 is spent purely on accommodating its monthly meetings and the meetings of its 16 sub-commitees.

The eye-opening new figures reveal the true cost of Ayrshire’s unelected policy makers – who even set their own salaries.

Straight in at number one on the wages chart is Doctor Bob Masterton who takes home £245,000 for his role as executive medical director.

Consultant doctor Masterton is a member of the British Medical Association with an interest in Ayrshire Medical Support, Healthcare Improvement Scotland and the University of West of Scotland (UWS).

Dr Masterton’s whopping salary is closely followed by Doctor Carol Davidson, the director of public health, who takes home £205,000.

Chief executive of the board, Doctor Wai-yin Hatton, is paid £155,000.

Dr Hatton is an independent director of British Swimming, the chair of Ayrshire Sportsability’s management committee and a director on the board of the Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce and Kilmarnock College.

Chairman of the board, Professor Bill Stevely, earns £30,000.

And councillors from each of the health board’s local authority areas are also paid to sit on the board.

Drew Filson (East Ayrshire), Hugh Hunter (South Ayrshire) and David O’Neill (North Ayrshire) each receive up to £10,000.

The cheapest member of NHS Ayrshire and Arran health board is consultant nurse in cardiac care, Janet McKay, who is also chair of the nursing and midwifery professional committee. She is paid between £1000 and £5000.

The £1.127 million total wage bill is revealed in the annual accounts for NHS Ayrshire and Arran.

A report explains: “Remuneration of board members and senior employees is determined in line with directions issued by the Scottish Government.

“All posts at this level are subject to rigorous job evaluation arrangements and the pay scales applied reflect the outcomes of these processes.

“All extant policy guidance issued by the Scottish Government has been appropriately applied and agreed by the remuneration committee.”

The remuneration committee meets four times a year and is responsible for determining and reviewing the health board’s pay policy.

That committee is made up of four board members.

Last year, they were Professor Bill Stevely, Councillor David O’Neill, Rita Miller and John Callaghan.