NHS ‘cost cutter’ Phillip Burns lounges in sun-kissed Costa del Sol pad while charging taxpayer £2,000 a day to work
HATCHET man Phillip Burns lounges with his wife in the holiday sun where he rakes in thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ cash.
The NHS consultant is charging £2,000 a day to work from his Costa del Sol hideaway in one of the wealthiest corners of Marbella.
Michelle Obama, Kate Moss, Eva Longoria and Bruce Willis are among recent celebs to grace its bars while the stretch was once a favourite for Brigitte Bardot and Ted Kennedy.
His luxury apartment is in a complex with a pool, landscaped gardens and saunas.
Burns, 45, laps up a sun-kissed life of luxury with his wife, while working as recovery director for cash-strapped Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board.
'ABSOLUTE MESS'
He is earning £350,000 in nine months dreaming up ideas to save cash at the North Wales board, which is in special measures.
They are said to include making nurses’ breaks unpaid, although the idea predated his involvement.
Sources at Betsi Cadwaladr told The Sun: “The whole management is an absolute mess after four years in special measures. How this has been allowed to happen is beyond us.”
Llyr Gruffydd, Plaid Cymru AM for North Wales, first raised concerns about the appointment of Burns in the Senedd last week after his FOI revealed how much he was costing.
He told The Sun: “People across north Wales are furious that their health board is paying £2,000 a day for this management consultant at the same time as it’s hammering our nurses.
'IT'S A SCANDAL'
“Nurses are being told to work extra shifts for no money to save cash while the health board is employing dozens of these overpaid pen pushers. It’s a scandal and heads should roll.
“While he’s enjoying a life of luxury in the sun, my constituents are struggling to see a GP, waiting months and years to get the treatment they need and nurses and other healthcare workers are being stretched to the limit.
Burns is dubbed "Mr Six Per Cent" by staff at BCUHB because he takes six per cent of their budget in his services and wages.
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John O'Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, blasted the Sun’s revelations of Burns’ luxury lifestyle.
He raged: "Working from home is one thing but this will make taxpayers sick to their stomachs.
“This bureaucrat gets to live the good life in his swanky Spanish pad whilst patients bear the burden. Mr Burns should hand in his resignation if he really wants to make savings."
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