'£225,000 is too much for past failure' says Farron

Commenting on the announcement this afternoon that University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT) has released the terms of its former chief executive, Tony Halsall, South Lakes MP Tim Farron said the amount was 'too much for failure'.

Today the trust revealed that when Mr Halsall stepped down in February 2012 he was seconded to NHS Confederation as an Associate Director. They are the only body to bring together and speak on behalf of the whole of the NHS.

Tim had previously written to the Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt MP asking him to write to every NHS trust in the country and instruct them to not use these deals. Hundreds of whistleblowers have in the past been silenced by the clauses in their severance packages. The trust has this afternoon notified Mr Halsall that it plans to terminate his contract with six months notice. According to the trust: "In an agreement with the Trust, he then took up a secondment with the NHS Confederation. The agreement provided for him to be paid his salary by the Trust up to 5 October 2013. Under the agreement Mr Halsall also retained his existing benefits, including a lease car, and the provision of career management advice to the value of £5,000 + VAT"

Tim said: "I have repeatedly called on the trust to let us know the level of this severance package. I have said all along that taxpayers have the right to know. The level of this package will shock people. £225,000 is too much for the failure that he presided over.

"I really do welcome the move by the new management to release this information today. They have started to turn the corner and this should be acknowledged. I will keep working with them to improve services and health outcomes."

"However, we should also recognise that despite the failings of the previous management, working with Tony Halsall helped bring chemotherapy to Westmorland General, and we would not have made as much progress on the campaign for radiotherapy without him."