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£100k spin doctor job for Stafford's County Hospital

A spin doctor on a salary of £100,000 a year is being recruited by the health trust running Stafford's County Hospital.

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The salary, equivalent to nearly five registered nurses' starting pay, has been criticised by a campaign group who said it should go on clinical staff.

The University Hospitals of North Midlands Trust (UHNM), which also runs the Royal Stoke University Hospital, was created last year.

It was formed after the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, which had run scandal-hit Stafford Hospital, was dissolved.

In a job advert the trust says: "It's an exciting time for the NHS in Staffordshire. The newly formed University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust, created following the integration of Stafford Hospital with University Hospital of North Staffordshire, signals a time of major, positive change for local health services.

"With investment of more than £250m, local hospital services and facilities are being transformed, providing an opportunity for a bright and stable future."

Meanwhile County Hospital, the re-named Stafford site, still has an A&E department that is closed overnight and has gone through a downgrade of maternity services. Seriously ill children are also now cared for in Stoke and at Wolverhampton's New Cross Hospital.

Campaigners have been calling for County Hospital to have services restored.

The minimum starting salary for a registered nurse is £21,692.

Cheryl Porter, from the Support Stafford Hospital group, said: "I would prefer to see the £100,000 spent on clinical support.

"The trust may well want to communicate with people about the work that it is doing.

"But the best way to do that is to prove itself by results that people will be able to see for themselves.

"The £100,000 could be spent in a better way on care rather than on a spin doctor."

The trust defended the salary and said the new director would help it achieve the recommendations of the Francis Report into the care scandal at the old Stafford Hospital.

Andrew Ashcroft, spokesman for the UHNM Trust said: "The director of communications will be responsible for engaging with our patients and our communities about their local hospital services.

"The Francis Report indicated that it was important for NHS Trusts to share information and communicate effectively, including with staff, patients and the public.

"The salary level for this post is in line with that of other large NHS trusts."

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