HOSPITAL bosses have launched a search for three new managing directors with salaries of up to £200,000...sparking fury from campaigners.

Save Southend NHS campaign group has branded the move an “insult to all patients and their families” after it was announced the Mid and South Essex Trust must cut 600 full-time equivalent roles to tackle a financial black hole.

The trust, which manages Basildon, Southend and Broomfield Hospital, is currently advertising for a managing director for each hospital with salaries ranging from £100,000 to £200,000.

Campaigners have also highlighted the trust’s “mutually agreed resignation scheme” and claim 150 “loyal staff” have already agreed to take up the scheme.

Defending the recruitment campaign, the trust said the advertised roles already existed on an interim basis, which they are now filling permanently, and are not new.

A spokesman for Save Southend NHS, said: ”Given that more than 150 loyal staff members are in the latest wave of job losses - with trust management citing lack of funding for their crude job cuts - we are incredulous that there is suddenly millions of pounds available to hire three more senior managers.

“And you do need to take into account pay and pension payments plus the commission fees to recruiters in this whole process.

“They reshuffle jobs and nothing much changes. Now they are introducing another expensive level of managers, far removed from the frontline of caring for patients.

“It’s an insult to all patients and their families.”

In April, the trust wrote to staff saying “all posts” would be under review and the workforce headcount must be reduced by “600 whole-time equivalent posts”.

Unison Basildon, Southend and Mid Essex health branch secretary Joyce Aldridge said: “It’s right that senior hospital managers are on proper contracts and get their jobs through a competitive process. But it’s galling for staff to see the executives shoring things up at the top while life on the wards gets tougher. Staff are already overworked and the risk of burnout only gets worse as colleagues disappear on voluntary severance schemes.”

Matthew Hopkins, trust chief executive, said: “Our managing director roles are essential for the leadership and smooth running of our hospitals – ensuring we’re providing the best possible care for our patients.

“These are not new roles; they were already substantive positions that we now need to fill with permanent rather than interim staff.

“Organising ourselves for success means having the right management team in place to help drive up the quality of care so that patients can expect excellent treatment whenever they come to our hospitals.”