Following reports in the local press on the payout to the former Chief Operating Officer of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, Stewart Messer, Rachel has issued the following statement.
Rachel said: “Like everyone else when they found out how much Mr Messer was paid by the Acute Trust I was in complete shock. This really is an absolute disgrace. This would not happen in any other walk of life, I know that from my background in business, so this sort of payout should not be able to happen in the NHS.
“We are all too aware of the situation our local hospitals are in, which makes this payout even more stomach churning. Hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money has been wasted. Understandably my constituents are angry, and trust me, I am angry too. It is clear the previous Trust leadership team spectacularly failed to spend taxpayers’ money wisely, especially when more money is going into the Trust from central government.
“Now is not the time for an investigation into how this happened. This process would only waste more hardworking taxpayers’ money. I am meeting with the Trust’s leadership team this Friday and I will make it extremely clear that lessons must be learnt from this sorry saga. This must never be allowed to happen again.”