BOSSES at Ipswich Hospital have defended the salary paid to interim chief executive Nigel Beverley – a figure which works out at more than �700 a day.

The fee – which would equate to a salary of around �192,297 if paid for an average working year – represents a hike from the pay of outgoing chief Andrew Reed.

He left the trust earning between �140,000 and �145,000, or about �170,000 to �175,000 including pension contributions.

Mr Beverley has charged the hospital �41,418 since he started on May 21.

Based on 56 days working at the Heath Road trust – Mr Beverley is contracted to work four days a week – it means the former Hinchingbrooke Hospital chief executive is earning about �739 a day.

That is a drop from the reported �1,100 a day he was said to be earning when he worked at the struggling Huntingdon hospital.

Ipswich MP Ben Gummer said the expenditure would be justified if Mr Beverley continues to make improvements at the trust. He said while the high salary came at a time of “economic difficulty”, he believed the interim chief executive had made a commendable beginning at the Heath Road hospital.

“He will be judged on his results and he has made a good start so far,” Mr Gummer said.

Another recent addition to the hospital’s board is Margaret Blackett, the new director of transformation and a former colleague of Mr Beverley’s from Hinchingbrooke Hospital.

Her remuneration is being paid from a specific fund allocated to help the organisations through a period of change.

Her monthly salary with costs is about �14,000 – similar to that of an average NHS director.

Ann Tate, chairman of The Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust, said the new appointments both had “distinguished careers” and strong track records of delivering first-class services, and that their remuneration reflected this.

She said: “We appointed Nigel because of the very specific skills, expertise and experience he has in leading organisations through a period of great change.

“The same is true of Margaret Blackett, who we have appointed as our interim director of transformation.

“The reason why they are here is to secure the future of the hospital. We’re now on target to break even financially this year and have just re-launched our Foundation Trust application.”

While Mr Beverley is contracted to lead the trust until next March, Mrs Blackett has a six-month contract which began last month.

Their salaries were both sanctioned by the hospital’s board of directors.