Scandal-hit NHS trust chief given pay rise to £300k-a-year before maternity failings exposed

The boss of a scandal-hit NHS trust enjoyed a pay rise so he could earn a staggering £300,000-a-year – before a landmark report exposed maternity failings. A top midwife’s inquiry into Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) found 520 mothers and babies suffered potentially avoidable harm or death due to poor care. Now we can reveal Trust Chief Executive Anthony May’s eye-watering salary in 2024-5 — higher the Prime Minister’s pay. Mr May’s salary at the Trust was £300,000-£305,000 in 2024-5, up from £285-290,000. Donna Ockenden’s review, the biggest of its kind in NHS history, covered the experiences of families predominantly from 2012 to last year. Her report “identified long-standing and deeply embedded systemic failures across multiple areas of maternity and neonatal care”. Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Helen Morgan MP said: “At the hands of Nottingham University Hospital NHS Trust, hundreds of mothers were put through unimaginably traumatic situations, replacing what should have been one of the most joyful moments of their lives with a trauma they will never recover from. “It is a smack in the face to these families that the CEO of this Trust accepted this eye watering pay rise while the Ockenden Review was already underway. Hospital chiefs should not be rewarded with a pay rise for putting their patients in unsafe situations.” The Nottingham Families Group said: “We do not believe there has been sufficient accountability to date, and we would like to remind Anthony May of the commitments and obligations that the public rightly expect from those entrusted with senior leadership within the NHS. The consequences of these maternity failings have been profound and life-changing for many families. Lives and careers have been irreversibly affected. “Some parents have been unable to return to work because of the physical injuries and psychological harm they have suffered. There are families who are now full-time carers for disabled children, and others who have been left facing financial hardship and debt as a direct consequence of life-changing physical injuries and psychological trauma that continue to affect their lives every day. “We remain committed to working constructively alongside Anthony May and the Trust to ensure that the necessary improvements are implemented fully and effectively. However, meaningful improvement must be accompanied by transparency, leadership and accountability." Keep Our NHS Public co-founder Dr Tony O'Sullivan added: "The systemic failures identified by Ockenden cannot be addressed by grotesquely inflated chief executive pay… If he is to win back the trust of mothers and staff, [Andy] Burnham must urgently invest in publicly provided NHS maternity services, fund safe staffing and premises, and respect and retain NHS staff. Then staff will be enabled to deliver safe and good NHS services once again.” Mr May – who joined the Trust in 2022 – said he was “shocked and upset” by the review’s findings published in June. Ms Ockenden's inquiry found Trust leaders knew there were serious issues in the maternity department going back years – yet failed to take action to stop more deaths. Over 2,000 families and more than 800 members of staff past and present contributed to the inquiry, with the Trust already paying out millions in compensation and fines after being prosecuted for poor care. The report noted: “Families were frequently told that lessons would be learned following harm or bereavement, yet similar incidents recurred repeatedly over many years.” Meanwhile, there was evidence the Trust downgraded harm. The report also said: “Across multiple cases and over many years, opportunities to recognise deterioration, escalate concerns and intervene appropriately were missed. Women and families consistently described experiences characterised by poor communication, fragmented care, lack of compassion and failure to listen to their concerns. “Many women reported feeling dismissed, disempowered or blamed when expressing anxiety or reporting symptoms including reduced fetal movements, pain, hypertension and postnatal deterioration. Families repeatedly described circumstances in which they felt they were not listened to until clinical situations became critical.” The report noted that “staff reported a culture of organisational denial, where poor outcomes were regularly dismissed as ‘known complications’”. The review also looked at what happened after the deaths of 17 babies and one adult. There were “recurring examples of failure to protect the dignity of the deceased, including an early gestation baby disposed as clinical waste; dehumanising language by clinicians; and poor mortuary care, including failure to comply with legal requirements”. In one case in 2022, the wrong baby was released to a funeral director. In another instance, in 2025, a mum asked to see her baby who died but was told to wait until they were with the funeral directors. The mortuary told the midwife the baby was in the freezer and “would need to thaw”. The report detailed that the mum did not know her baby had been frozen. A spokesperson for NUH said: “The Chief Executive’s pay is determined by the NHS Very Senior Managers pay framework. Any annual pay awards are decided nationally by the Government following the Senior Salaries Review Body’s recommendations. Since the Chief Executive joined in 2022, maternity services at NUH have improved and there is a ‘marked change’ in leadership of the Trust, as confirmed by Donna Ockenden in her independent review. “The review was a watershed moment for affected families, our staff and for the communities we serve. We apologise unreservedly to the women and families who have suffered harm, loss, trauma or distress while receiving care in our services and remain committed to making the necessary improvements and to implementing the Review’s actions.”