NHS boss quits £295k role ‘as life’s too short’
AN NHS chief executive has quit her £295,000-a-year role at an under-fire trust after claiming that “life is just too short”.
Siobhan McArdle has been at the helm of the South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust covering the Middlesbrough region since September 2015.
But yesterday she announced she is stepping down after “much debate” with loved ones over the last year.
In a resignation letter sent to staff Ms McArdle said the “personal cost” of being a chief executive in the NHS is “just too high”.
Salary details published in the trust’s annual report for the 2018/19 financial year showed that Ms McArdle earned between £290,000 and £295,000.
The financially-stricken trust, which claims to care for 1.5million patients, is under-performing said a Care Quality Commission report published in July and requires improvement.
The watchdog found during a January inspection that “harm occurred” to patients because beds were not available while intensive care got the worst possible rating.
Senior managers were criticised because staff felt they “were not visible, contactable or approachable”.
In her letter to 9,000 staff, Ms McArdle insisted it is “not an organisation that requires improvement”. She added: “I have done my utmost to promote the interests of our organisation within a very challenging financial and regulatory environment in a local health economy that is underfunded and unsustainable.
“However, the personal cost of being a CEO in the NHS is just too high and life is just too short.”
Ms McArdle leaves on September 30. Middlesbrough’s Labour MP Andy McDonald said it was “undoubted that the trust does not have enough money to do its job” but added a new CEO would bring a “fresh approach”.