FOI reveals Health Board has hired ‘Interim Recovery Director’ on 9 month £360,990 contract

A rumoured £2k a day rate for an interim director at the local health board has been confirmed in an FOI response, with the new information that £360,990 has been budgeted for the 9 month contract.

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board have published their response to an FOI placed to fact check an ‘anonymous letter’ featuring allegations over the hiring of management consultants.

As we wrote yesterday Llyr Gruffydd, Plaid Cymru’s North Wales AM, wrote to the health board over the anonymous allegations, however due to no response had also placed an FOI.

After the publication our article yesterday the FOI response was released by the health board that details the £360,990 sum budgeted for a ‘Interim Recovery Director’.

The anonymous letter referred to a £2,000 a day rate, however the FOI confirms that claim is inaccurate by ten pounds with the correct sum being £1,990 a day.

In the first part of the FOI response the name of the ‘Interim Recovery Director’ is not given and an exemption cited that the information is personal data. In the Senedd chamber the AM named the person as Philip Burns, a detail the health board later effectively confirm later in the FOI while clearing up the question of if travel expenses to and from Spain were paid. The FOI states, “The Health Board is not contracted to meet Phillip Burns’ travel and accommodation costs.”

Yesterday the health board were in touch over the allegation of Mr Burns ‘working from home in Marbella’. The health board told us that “…our Recovery Director works from home for one of his five contracted days per week” however when we asked if that one day a week was, or ever was, in Spain we were told no personal information about the flexible working arrangements staff would be shared.

Later yesterday the Daily Post published their version of this story, stating Mr Burns “…works one day a week from his home in Marbella and the rest in the ‘board area’ ” adding “The board confirmed this was the case.”

We checked with the health board if they had confirmed that detail, as it was at odds with what they had told us. The health board said they had only confirmed to the Daily Post that the Recovery Director works from home for one day per week, as per their response to us, and reiterated that they would not share or confirm personal information such as where the postholder lives/works from home.

The FOI response contains details of several other interim director appointments, with day rates ranging from £715 to £1,990. For five appointments the total amount budgeted is given, totalling £899,430.

Aside from interim directors, the FOI also asked “How many other interim appointments have been made within BCUHB since September 2018?”.

The health board responded stating there are currently 13 additional interim appointments of senior roles within BCUHB (first table), with an additional 20 interim appointments of senior roles who are no longer employed (second table).

No details of the day rate, or total budgeted costs were requested and so were not released.

The FOI request then asked, “What recruitment and selection process was undertaken? (i.e. were the posts advertised as normal?”

The health board replied: “The individuals referred to … have all been appointed in accordance with our standing financial instructions. Each has been brought in to undertake a particular role for a short period of time to either provide additional capacity and capability or to enable the Health Board to determine proof of concept before permanently establishing senior management positions.

“Clearly, these rates are not insignificant. However, the Health Board is committed to achieving considerable improvement in delivery of unscheduled care; planned care and financial management in year and as such, not unlike many organisations in the wider NHS, decisions have had to be taken to augment the existing resource and expertise for a relatively short period of time.

“Where it is clear that the skills required are available within the Health Board, opportunities are open for expressions of interest and interview (e.g. Interim Managing Director).”

Yesterday in a comment on the topic a spokesperson for Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board said: “Our priority is to deliver considerable improvements in unscheduled care, planned care and financial management and to achieve this, we are temporarily strengthening our existing capacity and expertise in these areas.

“Interim staff have been appointed in accordance with our standing financial instructions to undertake specific roles for a short period of time.

“Appointing a Recovery Director was a recommendation from the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee, who called for more resources to be devoted to turnaround action, including bringing in additional specialist external turnaround expertise.

“There is a market rate for this level of expertise and that is what we are paying.”