The bill for deputy chief executive Sue Barnett works out at £883 A DAY.

On the face of it, the overall cost of Ms Barnett and the consultancy firm so far dwarfs the annual £120,000 salary of her boss, hospital chief executive Stephen Cass.

The figure for Ms Barnett is revealed in the remuneration report which goes before the hospital board at its meeting tomorrow, September 5, and underlines a huge overspend in staff, particularly temporary employees.

The bill was not paid directly to her, but to a specialist consultancy company called Odgers Interim.

The payment period quoted was from January 17 to March 31, but since then she has completed a further five months at the Worthing and Southlands Trust.

Ms Barnett was a former deputy chief executive at the troubled Barking NHS Hospitals Trust, but stepped down shortly after her then boss Mark Rees had his contract terminated as the trust reeled under large debts.

Although the report praises the Worthing and Southlands hospital trust for 'achieving financial balance for the first time in three years', a detailed analysis from financial controller David Dumigan shows the trust is still battling to make up for past debts in recent years.

July showed a 'surplus' of £202,000 for the hospital trust, but they had budgeted to clear more than £1m in that month alone to help combat previous debt.

The net effect, says the report, means the hospital trust is so far £3.6m behind where it had hoped to be.

Over the year, it wants to claw back £8.75m, but the figures show it is nowhere near its target.

The report says pay expenditure is 'considerably over' budget levels after four months of the financial year, where there is a trust-wide overspend of £3.5m.

Total spending on the workforce after four months was £37.6m, compared with £32.5m after the same period last year.

Over that period, temporary staff costs have more than doubled, costing the trust £5m this year compared to £2.2m last year.

Mr Dumigan's report reveals although the trust has returned to monthly financial 'balance' it is 'insufficient to meet the planned surplus of £8.75m by the year end'.

He says 'immediate measures to address the shortfall in plans have been taken specifically around bank and agency use'.

Apart from the financial problems, the report highlights the hospital trust's achievements in the year, with record numbers using maternity and casualty services and an average of 1,000 people a day being treated.

The trust opened an new £1m intensive care unit, was praised for the quality of its maternity and surgical services, introduced a new service for hip fracture patients, and worked hard to control hospital infections and waiting times.



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