Campaigners have criticised the search for a new communications director by the region's mental health trust - and the £90,000 salary attached to it.

However, the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) has said the new role would play a "vital role to play" in helping improve the experiences of patients.

The trust is currently advertising for a new director of communications, whose duties would be centred around "developing the reputation" of the organisation - with the successful application to be paid between £78,192 and £90,387 a year.

The job advertisement says the successful candidate would have "a significant role to play in helping to build a strong, exciting and more sustainable future" for the trust.

But it has angered campaigners, who have questioned how pressing the need for the role is - highlighting that the salary is a greater amount than the £60,000 the trust has spent renovating the Rollesby ward at Hellesdon Hospital.

A spokeswoman for the Campaign to Save Mental Health Services in Norfolk and Suffolk said: "It is absolutely shocking - it suggests that this role is more valuable than the psychiatric intensive care units.

"It feels like the trust is more worried about what it looks like than the health of its service users.

"You just can not justify a salary like that, it is disgraceful. For that amount, you could hire a few extra nurses or a psychiatrist, which are needed desperately at the moment - rather than what is essentially a spin doctor."

But a spokeswoman for the trust said that all salaries in the NHS were set according to National Agenda for Change pay scales and not determined locally.

And Stuart Richardson, chief executive at NSFT, said: "The leadership and expertise provided by communications professionals has a vital role to play in supporting us to improve patient experience and deliver more effective engagement with local communities, staff and key stakeholders.”

The trust currently employs 4,716 individuals, 3,470 of which work in clinical roles.

It is also currently advertising for a range of other roles, including a variety of clinical and consultant roles.