NHS Rich List shows health board execs earn more than Prime Minister

Alec Doyle, Local Democracy Reporter

The 2026 NHS Rich List has revealed that the chief executive of an embattled health board currently earns almost £100,000 more than Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

The report – produced by the TaxPayers’ Alliance – shows that Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board’s Carol Shillabeer is the highest-earning health board chief executive in Wales.

While that is not exactly a surprise as BCUHB is the largest health board in the country, the list also reveals that her annual salary – £262,500 excluding pension benefits – eclipses even PM Andy Burnham’s annual pay of £172,153.

She is not alone, with BCUHB’s Executive Director of Finance Russ Caldicott also earning more than the PM – £177,500 per year.

According to the report every executive director of BCUHB earns more than £100,000.

That is despite BCUHB ranking bottom of the seven Welsh Health Boards for Accident and Emergency waiting times and sixth out of seven for referral to treatment waiting times.

Across Wales, six out of seven Health Boards pay their top boss more than the PM.

But that higher rate of pay for executives has not translated into better performance.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies recently reported that – in the last five years – health spending per person in Wales has increased by 17% and staff numbers have increased across Wales by 24%.

In the same time period waiting times have remained 40% longer than those in England and hospital stays remain 40% longer than across the border.

“Taxpayers will be appalled that NHS executive pay is soaring while patients are still left waiting for care,” said Anne Strickland, researcher at the TaxPayers’ Alliance.

“Andy Burnham’s new Government has an early opportunity to show taxpayers that it will get a grip on this culture of rewarding failure.

“Ministers must keep their promise to link performance to pay so that failing NHS bosses are held accountable and money goes into patient care, not managers’ pockets.”

BCUHB was approached for a comment.

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