‘Scandal’ Of Payoff To Patient-Safety Chiefs

Two senior officials at the government agency meant to safeguard patient safety in the NHS have cost the taxpayer more than £640,000 in early retirement payments, ministers have admitted.

The joint chief executives of the National Patient Safety Agency, Sue Osborn and Susan Williams, received a retirement package worth £504,457, in addition to being paid £138,610 while on “gardening leave” for eight months to March.

Their interim replacement has also cost at least £78,419, according to figures released in response to parliamentary questions by the Liberal Democrats.

The agency, designed to collect data on patient safety, was denounced last year as “dys-functional” by the Public Accounts Committee, because it had no idea how many patients died each year as a result of medical errors.

A few days later, the Department of Health put Ms Osborn and Ms Williams on indefinite leave, pending an inquiry into their managerial record. The pair, famous for job-sharing over a 20-year career, formally retired at the end of March.

Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrat health spokesman, said: “This is a slap in the face for the many hard-working NHS employees who have seen posts cut and training budgets slashed. This looks like a scandalous use of public money and it is particularly outrageous at a time when local health services have been cut in many parts of the country to clear deficits.

“How can anyone justify these joint chief executives first of all being away from work while being paid for eight months at a cost to the public purse of over £200,000, then receiving retirement packages, together worth almost half a million pounds? There needs to be total clarity about the circumstances of their absence from work and the decision to award early retirement.”