Health chiefs in the Bradford district were awarded rises below national increases in pay, new reports reveal.

Accounts published by three NHS trusts in the district show pay packages for the year 1997-98 were limited following a series of rows about 'fat cat' health chiefs.

But unions say high increases for bosses in the past have left a deep legacy of bitterness among staff, who were given 2.8 per cent by the previous Government in the 1997-98 pay round.

Figures show David Jackson, chief executive at Bradford Hospitals NHS Trust which runs Bradford Royal Infirmary and St Luke's Hospital, saw his total remuneration package reach £100,000, up by about 2 per cent on the year before although his basic salary increased by 3.6 per cent to £86,000.

Con Egan, chief executive at Bradford Community Health NHS Trust which runs mental health, community nursing, learning disability services and a range of other community services, saw his basic salary go up by 1.4 per cent to £71,000. At the Birkenshaw-based West York-shire Metropolitan Ambulance Service, chief executive Trevor Molton was given a basic rise of 1.5 per cent to £69,000.

Unison spokesman at Bradford Hospitals NHS Trust, John Scanlon, said the lower pay increases came after a number of years when pay awards for top managers had risen much faster than NHS staff. He said he backed GMB leader John Edmonds who at the TUC conference this week branded industry chiefs who took high pay increases 'greedy bastards'.

"It's about time, but even so I'd love two per cent of £100,000 and so would the rest of us," he said.

John Farrar, regional officer for Unison who covers WYMAS, said: "I am pleased awards are coming in line with the workers but at the end of the day we are more concerned about getting a better deal this year to bring pay up to a living wage, particularly for the low paid."

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