HOSPITAL trust bosses are using a flawed argument to justify their inflation-busting pay rises.

They claim that their pay is, on average, half that of their counterparts in the private sector. If they are referring to the "fat cat" salaries of bosses in the Water and Electricity, they will receive scant public sympathy. Many other executives in the private sector are not in that league.

When the Trust salaries were first set they obviously met with the approval of those who accepted jobs. It is impossible to understand why, in less than two years, they should demand massive increases. Pay rises for Trust bosses have been rising more than twice as steeply as those of nurses, a report from Incomes Data Services reveals. That is wrong. We cannot believe that chief executives, despite the responsibility they carry, are more than twice as effective as the people at the sharp end of hospital work. It's time that NHS cash was distributed more fairly.

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