NHS England might be in the process of being abolished by the Labour Government, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t many others in the NHS receiving large remunerations on the taxpayer. The TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA) recently published their NHS Rich List 2025, which “examines the remuneration of senior managers across NHS trusts in 2023-24 and compares it with their trust’s performance on A&E and referral to treatment (RTT) waiting times for January 2025.”
The full research and dataset breakdown the details across the country. Below, we look at some notable numbers for more local NHS Trusts identified as being in London, Surrey, Kent and across Sussex.
Salary
Nationally there are 469 employees paid more than the April 2024, Prime Ministerial salary entitlement of £172,153. In our selected areas we see 54 staff paid more than the PM. These are largely Chief Executives, but also include 12 Chief Medical Officers, 2 Finance Directors, 6 people in roles that include ‘Deputy’ in the title, and 3 Chief Nurse’s. These are all no doubt demanding high ranking roles, but in a near monopoly national health care system, do they need to be paid more than the Prime Minister?
The Chief People Officer of the University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust was also paid more than the Prime Minister. Is this a reasonable salary for an HR role? This was one of 19 roles across London, Surrey, Kent and Sussex where the job roles of Chief People Officer, Chief Communications Officer, Director of People, and the godawful titles of Director of Communications and Engagement, Chief of People and Culture, Executive Director of People and Culture, and Director of Communications and Improvement, all paid over £100,000 per annum.
Salary over £220K in our area:
| NHS TRUST | Title | Salary |
| UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON HOSPITALS NHS FOUNDATION TRUST | Chief executive | £282,500 |
| LONDON NORTH WEST UNIVERSITY HEALTHCARE NHS TRUST | Chief executive officer | £252,500 |
| UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON HOSPITALS NHS FOUNDATION TRUST | Medical director | £237,500 |
| EAST KENT HOSPITALS UNIVERSITY NHS FOUNDATION TRUST | Chief executive | £237,500 |
| ROYAL FREE LONDON NHS FOUNDATION TRUST | Group chief executive | £237,500 |
| ROYAL FREE LONDON NHS FOUNDATION TRUST | Royal Free Hospital chief executive | £237,500 |
| Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust | Chief medical officer | £237,500 |
| UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS SUSSEX NHS FOUNDATION TRUST | Chief medical officer | £232,500 |
| LONDON NORTH WEST UNIVERSITY HEALTHCARE NHS TRUST | Medical director | £227,500 |
| EAST SUSSEX HEALTHCARE NHS TRUST | Chief medical officer | £222,500 |
| UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS SUSSEX NHS FOUNDATION TRUST | Chief executive | £222,500 |
| EAST SUSSEX HEALTHCARE NHS TRUST | Chief executive | £222,500 |
| South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust | Chief executive | £222,500 |
Total Remuneration
Salary, especially in these senior NHS Trust roles is only one part of the remuneration received. Pension is also a significant part of the payments made. Looking at our area, one can’t help but wonder if the people of North East London sleep better at night knowing that the local NHS Executive Director of People and Culture received over £400K in pension related benefits. Are the people of Sussex benefiting from improvements to the University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust service thanks to the Chief Governance Officer’s £251,250 pension related benefits?
More locally no doubt the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust was contractually obliged to pay over £530K in Pension benefits to their Acting Chief Medical Officer and Chief Operating Officer, but is this appropriate use of taxpayers money to provide “NHS mental health services” to “the community in Lambeth, Southwark, Lewisham and Croydon”.
Remuneration (with Salary and Pension details) over £300K in our area:
| NHS TRUST | Title | Salary | Pension related benefits | Overall Total |
| North East London NHS Foundation Trust | Executive director of people and culture | £142,500 | £441,250 | £582,500 |
| LONDON NORTH WEST UNIVERSITY HEALTHCARE NHS TRUST | Chief executive officer | £252,500 | £171,250 | £422,500 |
| UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS SUSSEX NHS FOUNDATION TRUST | Chief governance officer | £162,500 | £251,250 | £ 412,500 |
| Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust | Chief executive | £212,500 | £176,250 | £387,500 |
| South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust | Acting chief medical officer | £147,500 | £228,750 | £377,500 |
| South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust | Chief operating officer | £62,500 | £301,250 | £362,500 |
| Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust | Chief nursing officer | £142,500 | £208,750 | £352,500 |
| ROYAL SURREY COUNTY HOSPITAL NHS FOUNDATION TRUST | Finance director | £187,500 | £153,750 | £342,500 |
| Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust | Chief nursing officer | £127,500 | £203,750 | £332,500 |
Bang for the buck
Where NHS Trusts are delivering excellent service for the patient, these payments, even at the taxpayers’ expense could well be justified. The TPAs full research breaks this down at a national level and the results don’t look promising.
We would encourage you to explore further at https://www.taxpayersalliance.com/nhs_rich_list_2025.