Struggling NHS hospital trust forks out £20k for new Aussie chief exec’s move to the UK
Michelle McKay, an experienced senior care manager, is moving to Worcestershire from Adelaide, Australia, with her husband and children
A CASH-strapped hospital trust shamed among the worst for patient deaths will spend up to £20,000 relocation costs on a new chief executive from Australia in an unusual move.
Michelle McKay takes on the job at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust in March and is moving from Adelaide with her family.
The Trust has earmarked £20,000 for relocation casts which involve husband Wayne, despite trying to save money.
They are also set to pay her more than the £155,000 salary the previous chief executive Penny Venables was on and it had to be signed off outside of the organisation before it was agreed.
The trust, placed in special measures by the Care Quality Commission, was revealed in September to have been facing a £59million deficit for 2015/16.
And this week Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said one of their facilities was “the hospital he was most worried about of all” following two patients dying on trolleys.
A source told The Sun on Sunday: “They obviously feel that she is worth the money.
“The relocation cost ceiling has been set, but she is trying to do it cheaper than this.
“She paid for her own flights to come and be interviewed in the UK.
“It is obviously very unusual for an NHS trust to recruit a chief executive from abroad.”
In September the trust was revealed to be in the bottom 5 per cent in the country for patient mortality.
Mrs McKay has a history in medical management and her LinkedIn page shows she has worked in a number of Oz care positions in a very senior role.
Her publicly viewable Facebook page shows a love of wine, with a cavernous cellar as her cover picture.
Her most recent profile image – uploaded two weeks before her appointment was announced – shows her holding up a glass.
A spokesman for Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said it was proud of the appointment.
He said: “We can confirm that following a rigorous and transparent recruitment process we offered the post of chief executive to Michelle McKay.
“Michelle was appointed to bring strong leadership and she has huge experience of turning and managing complex health systems.
“Attracting world class applicants is something we are extremely proud of and the people of Worcestershire will welcome our move to install a permanent leadership team to the trust, something that has been lacking for a number of years.
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“This was something that was also recognised by the Care Quality Commission in their latest inspection.
“There is a financial cost to attracting candidates such as this and it is only right and proper that they are remunerated fairly and out of pocket relocation expenses are reimbursed.
“On the salary package we are not commenting other than to say it is in keeping with other NHS chief executive salaries and has been approved and signed off outside of the trust.”