What possible justification can there be for this?

Hawkeye

It is a bl**dy disgrace!

'Nuff said!

Chris lancashire

There isn't any justification for this. Unfortunately it is symptomatic of what has happened under Labour - the ratcheting up of senior level salaries is widespread and requires something as draconian such as Osborne's Law to begin to correct these abuses. Equally unfortunately, we will find that considerable time has been spent in constructing watertight contracts which will not make the task easy.

One further thought - for those who argue they could earn more in the private sector - come and have a go if you think you're hard enough.

Mark Clarke

It is outrageous. But you are targetting the wrong organisation.

This is not an appointment by Wandsworth Council - whose logo you have.

Rather this is an appointment by the Primary Care Trust - the local NHS.

Wandsworth Council would not waste such money which is why they have the lowest Council Tax in Britain. This is another example of wasteful NHS spending.

C

You might want to check your facts. He doesn't work for the Borough, he works for Wandsworth Primary Care Trust.

Tim Carpenter LPUK

It all goes back to the conceit of Council Leaders calling themselves CEOs or such. They are Town Clerks.

A fish rots from the head.

Ian Walker

The problem with the public sector is that it has to be paid for. This mans salary, justified or not, requires an average of just over 38 people to work and pay taxes.

Sir Graphus

When I graduated 20 years ago, we all had a good laugh at the vegan leftie idiots that used to shout “fascist” a lot and named everything the Student Union owned after Nelson Mandela. They all had to go work in useless sounding local government jobs for about 30% less money than the rest of us. It was our triumphant vindication of how doing a useful degree which had more than 5 hours of lectures a week was superior to their life of humourless communist theorising and smoking pot.

Well they’ve turned the tables on us, now, haven’t they. Who’s in bloody charge now? They’ve managed to tax all our pensions out of existence, kept theirs, increase their wages above ours, and kept their holiday and other privileges, while not having to work hard at all.

However, the pendulum will swing back the other way. It must.

John Porter

You might also want to check whether Prof Rawaf works for Wandsworth PCT. If you do, you would find he left some time ago.

So wrong organisation, naming a person who doesn't work there. Other than getting the salient facts entirely wrong, a really good article.

Chuck Unsworth

Hell of a lot of very sick people in Wandsworth.

Curbishly

Ooops!

Mark, Edinburgh

If you google the name it seems someone of an identical name gives presentations about GP services in South London to medical conferences in BRAZIL!

So guess there could be expenses on top of the pay?

Nick Longworth

The TPA is a bit out of date. NHS Wandsworth appointed a new DoPH in September. I've no idea what her package is... do they?
http://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/legacy/news/pressreleasedetail.asp?id=6654

dilys

Why has the PM's salary become the yardstick by which others are judged?
Given his performance as chancellor and pm he should be getting less than my pension.

Snowman

Another plus mark in the book of achievements of the most treasured institution, the NHS. Why should the package be worth half a million or more? The money comes from the common purse, doesn't it?

RMH

400 grand for a that, no wonder the council tax is like an unlubricated and unwanted entry.

David Lindsay

The Public Sector Rich List? What, you mean RBS?

Put the bankers on public sector pay. Why the hell aren't they already, since they are now in the public sector? No doubt because they would then be so poor as to have to pay income tax.

Oh, and if the directors of RBS resign, fill the vacancies internally. That is, internally within the public sector as a whole. Better still, do it at random off the Electoral Register.

TrevorsDen

Wandsworth NHS (Sept 09) say
'NHS Wandsworth is delighted to announce that we have appointed Houda Al-Sharifi as the new Director of Public Health to the Board. This is a joint appointment with Wandsworth Borough Council'

So its a joint appointment and for a different person as claimed by the Guardian.

Or how many directors of public health does Wandsworth need? No mention of Salary.

gareth

thanks Mark Clarke for pointing that out.

Moraymint

That's over 10 times what I took in drawings from my small business last year and this year as I and my business partner battle like hell to keep the wheels on (in practice this means 75 hour weeks and no holiday this past year).

I'm also paying my company's FY 07-08 tax liability out of my personal savings (or I'd be in jail).

On this basis, I am helping to pay Professor Rawaf's salary. He'd better be worth it.

I'm also thinking that this is utter madness and wonder why I keep at it. Over at the Burning Our Money Blog, Wat Tyler showed recently that we've reached the stage where one private sector taxpayer (ie mug like me) is funding 1.2 state-dependent citizens (like Rawaf + one-fifth of a Rawaf).

Is it any wonder we're going bankrupt?

2trueblue

That is what we know he is being paid. Management consultants eat up quite a bit of money also. Money that could be spent on the front line.

Alic

Imagine that this is NHS bollocks not Wandsworth bollocks. Or the Wandsworth council tax payers need to get some pitchforks...

Get pitchforks anyway. No public servant should be paid 370k - Servants of the state, not parasites.

HJ

The real scandal is that you can bet that this person won't make one iota of difference to public health in Wandsworth.

The key factors in public health are sanitation, housing, diet and lifestyle.