EADT NEWS - DAVE GREEN; Crunch time: Meeting at the Hartismere Hospital in Eye early yesterday morning prior to today's crucial meeting at Kesgrave. Prue Rush, GP services practice nurse; PICTURE ANDY ABBOTT 24/1/06; EADT 14.5.09; ES 27.7.09

HEALTH bosses in the region are set to be offered a year’s salary to resign from their posts as part of a nationwide scheme, it has emerged.

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The move, which has been criticised by a local heath campaigner, comes as the NHS tries to save billions of pounds and moves towards the abolition of primary care trusts (PCTs).

NHS trusts across the country have been writing to staff offering them a lump-sum pay-off – thought to be a year’s salary – under a “mutually agreed resignation scheme’’.

The schemes being offered by the NHS Trusts are designed to create vacancies which managers believe either do not need to be replaced or which can be filled by redeployment from jobs that themselves do not need to be replaced.

It is thought some compulsory redundancies could be prevented this way as the NHS tries to save billions of pounds and moves towards abolition of PCTs as set out in the Government’s White Paper.

Now, in a bid to ensure consistency across the service, a national scheme is being set up instead.

NHS East of England chief executive, Sir Neil McKay, has overseen the deal. In a letter to NHS managers, reported by the Health Service Journal (HSJ), he said: “I am aware that a number of NHS organisations have agreed mutually agreed resignation schemes to help with management costs reductions.

“Although such schemes are not currently related to any impact of the White Paper, I want to ensure we are as joined-up as possible.

“We are therefore working with the NHS trade unions and NHS Employers to create a national scheme that would supersede any local arrangements (other than those developed by foundation trusts).’’

According to the HSJ, the NHS deal will allow managers to receive up to a year’s pay if they volunteer to leave. This would equate to £97,478 for the highest- paid manager under the Agenda for Change contract or £137,500 for the average PCT chief executive.

But it reported this agreement was worth only half that offered under Agenda for Change redundancy terms, of which the maximum payable sum was equivalent to two years’ salary.

However, Suffolk-based health campaigner Prue Rush said: “This seems like a very generous deal to me.

“If NHS bosses agree a redundancy package in their contracts when they start a job this should be seen through and not altered.

“I don’t see why a special case should be made for NHS managers. If they have to be made redundant then they should face up to this like anybody else would.”