Health board in spying scandal spending over £600,000 on 'spin doctors'

A health board embroiled in a spying scandal has been accused of spending over £600,000 on spin doctor salaries.NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde employs thirteen corporate communications staff at a time of huge pressure on public funds.Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: “It is deeply worrying to see this level of money being spent on communications within NHSGGC while the health service is in crisis.“The hard-working NHS staff have gone above and beyond but they have been let down by decisions taken at management level.

This scale of cash being spent on spin is the latest kick in the teeth to the workforce as the money would be far better spent on more frontline healthcare staff.“It is important that people who stay within the health board area know what is going on and are being given information but the sheer amount of money being splashed on spin doctors is wrong.”The board has been under fire over allegations of spying on relatives of dead patients as a way of monitoring criticism.The so-called ‘social listening’ strategy included checking the social media posts of their detractors.One of the targets was Louise Slorance, who had accused bosses at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital of concealing details of her late husband Andrew’s death.According to official figures, staff salaries for the corporate comms team are at least £620,000.Roles include director of communications, deputy director, public affairs, senior communications, web development and graphic design.The highest paid staff in the team earns up to £98,384.We reported claims communications director Sandra Bustillo is said to have told her staff a concerned parent may have “won the battle but won’t win the war” after he raised his concerns