Bosses of failing NHS hospitals will have pay docked while top performers can get £30,000 bonuses under new reforms

DOZENS of failing NHS bosses will have their pay docked while top performers get £30,000 bonuses under Wes Streeting’s tough new “stick-and-carrot” rules.

The Health Secretary will allow bonuses of up to 10 per cent to directors and executives at NHS trusts that hit ambitious waiting time targets and don’t blow their budgets.

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Bosses at failing hospitals will all be denied their annual pay rises until they get back on track.

Executives who agree to fill job vacancies in poorly performing hospitals could also get 15 per cent salary boosts, worth up to £45,000.

Mr Streeting told The Sun: “The public are fed up of seeing rewards for failure so that’s what we’re putting an end to.

“The new rules we're setting out will introduce potential bonuses of up to 10 per cent for those NHS leaders who are delivering exceptional results.

“Those who waste money or let patients down will have their annual pay rises docked.”

The best paid chief executives in the NHS earn more than £300,000 per year meaning their bonuses could stretch beyond £30,000.

That is approximately an entire year’s pay for a mid-ranking nurse.

Patricia Marquis, of the Royal College of Nursing, said: “Talk of bonuses for hospital chiefs higher than a nurse’s annual salary will leave a sour taste in the mouths of nursing staff. We are still waiting for a pay award that should have arrived six weeks ago.

“Bonuses for the top while cutting nurse numbers is reckless and offensive. This culture was bad for finance and it is not the answer for the NHS."

It comes as tensions are rising over nurses and junior doctors’ threats to go back on strike in pursuit of more pay.

There are currently at least 15 hospital trusts in the NHS’ recovery support programme and all will likely have Very Senior Manager salaries frozen.

The rule will apply to all staff earning more than £110,000 per year, including nursing and medical directors as well as C-suite executives.

Mr Streeting said there is “wide variation” in performance across hospitals.

He added: “We are setting the bar at a challenging level so that even those trusts who are currently the best performers in the country will still need to raise their game in order to achieve a bonus.

“We're trying to stretch the best and raise the bar everywhere else.”