Fury at NHS chiefs' £200k pay-off

Mr Bailey said wards at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital were shut

A councillor who spent a night in a corridor because a Winchester hospital had no beds has blasted an "obscene" £200,000 pay-off for two NHS bosses.

Councillor Rodney Bailey went to the Royal Hampshire County Hospital last year suffering chest pains but walked out after spending hours in a corridor.

He condemned payoffs totalling £200,000 to two Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare NHS Trust former executives.

The trust has said however, the payoffs would ultimately save money.

Trust chief executive Martin Wakeley said the payments - to Simon Milligan and Karen Ashton - would slash the executive wage bill by tens of thousands of pounds.

'Shut wards'

He said: "The wage bill for board executives last year was £727,000. This year it will be around £650,000 so it is clear to see that we can make up the money spent on severance."

The Trust said that Cllr Bailey's visit occurred on one of the busiest night's experienced at the hospital and when some wards were closed as part of a reconfiguration and upgrade.

But Cllr Bailey, of Test Valley Borough Council, whose health has since improved, said the money should be spent elsewhere.

He told BBC News: "The money is excessive and obscene.

"When I went to hospital they had wards shut.

"In the end I walked out because they could not get me a bed, luckily it was a minor heart problem which is now under control.

"This money should go to keep wards open not pay-offs."

The trust also confirmed both former executives have since taken up other roles elsewhere within the NHS.

"Both of these people have already got other jobs in the NHS so they have done great out of it," Mr Bailey added.

"It seems the people most in need of cash in the NHS get ignored."