Temporary hospital manager was paid £60,000 a month
A temporary hospital manager was paid £60,000 ($79,000) a month, equivalent to £715,000 a year, as "turnaround director" of King's College Hospital Foundation Trust in London between April 2015 and February 2016 despite the government's promise to prevent massive "off payroll" payments. The trust finished 2015 with a £65m deficit, missing savings targets by almost £30m.

A temporary hospital manager was paid the highest salary in NHS history of £60,000 a month, despite government pledges to clamp down on fat cats in the health service.

Steve Leivers received the equivalent of £715,000 a year to act as 'turnaround director' of King's College Hospital Foundation Trust in London, it was reported last night.

The windfall amount, which Mr Leivers earned between April 2015 and February this year, were in the wake of a nine-month placement at North Bristol NHS trust, where he was paid the equivalent of £520,000 a year.

The payment is just one of a soaring number of NHS fat cats being paid 'off payroll' – the number has risen by almost a quarter.

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Steve Leivers received the equivalent of £715,000 a year to act as 'turnaround director' of King's College Hospital Foundation Trust in London (pictured)

The payments come as the NHS headed for its worst financial crisis in its history, with a deficit of £2bn being declared this year.

Ministers had promised to prevent massive payments as concerns were raised that managers were using schemes to minimise their tax liabilities and hiding 'excessive and indefensible' payments.

In the same financial year, King's spent £505,000 on interim chief operating officer, Jeremy Tozer, who was in post for 12 months.

The trust ended the year with a £65m deficit, missing savings targets by almost £30m.

Details of King's College's deal with Mr Leivers was revealed after The Mail revealed last year how some NHS executives earned more than £1m including their pension contributions, while directors pocketed £5,000 a day.

An audit of trust accounts found nearly 1,000 NHS bosses earned £100,000 including pension contributions.

Around 50 hospital bosses took home more than £400,000 last year alone.

Senior MPs are demanding an inquiry into the extraordinary findings

The Daily Mail also revealed how NHS bosses have been able to claim redundancy deals far in excess of their counterparts in the private sector.

Paula Sherriff, MP for Dewsbury, said the rocketing spending since the public clampdown was 'unacceptable'.

She told the Telegraph: 'The figures show that the government's so-called crackdown on paying managers through agencies or limited companies has actually seen numbers rise, not fall.

The payments come as the NHS headed for its worst financial crisis in its history, with a deficit of £2bn being declared this year

'Not only does it waste the NHS budget but also allows some executives to pay artificially low taxes, so there's less money available for the NHS in the first place.'

Katherine Murphy, chief executive of the Patients Association, said the sums being paid out were unimaginable especially in the light that the public is expected to receive reduced services.

'This is nothing short of scandalous. All we hear from the Government is that we, the public, should expect reduced services from our NHS because of the need for savings from the health budget, then we learn of some interim managers receiving payouts of unimaginable sums,' she told the Telegraph.

A spokesman for King's College Hospital NHS Foundation trust told the Telegraph: 'In 2015, following significant changes to the Trust's executive management team, we brought in a small number of specialist interim staff, for a limited period of time, to provide additional senior management support and help deliver savings for the trust.