The East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust has reportedly rehired six senior managers after spending £922,984 making them redundant. The trust, which covers Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex has been involved in various scandals, including bosses being given Jaguar and BMW cars at a cost of £454,000 a year in lease payments.
The golden question in these situations is who benefits? The six firees make the organisation chart look good. The salary bill goes down and most probably the rehires are via service companies. (At least one of the rehires is in a training post via an agency). Did the Chief Executive get a performance bonus for reducing the head count and the salary bill? Even if  the rehires are valid, the damage to the reputation to the Trust is worthy of heads rolling – especially as the trust’s P.R. team cost £250,000 a year!