Pay : Dr Angela Bhan is one of around 70 executives earning more than the recommended £125,000 . She takes home £175,000 . NHS bosses are awarding themselves six-figure salaries far in excess of the pay they are entitled to , it emerged last night . Some 70 executives of new regional bodies earn more than the £125,000 maximum recommended by the NHS . Twenty of the bosses , including nine specialist doctors and GPs , earn more than the £142,000 paid to the Prime Minister . One took home £280,000 last year , although this included the fees of the recruitment agency that headhunted him . MPs said the huge salaries were ‘ shocking and obscene ’ given the increasingly tight constraints on the NHS budget . Many of the trusts these executives run are trying to save money by rationing routine procedures such as cataract surgery , hip and knee replacements and IVF . The salaries were uncovered by e-reward , an online pay research service , which analysed the pay of more than 2,500 managers at the 211 clinical commissioning groups in England . These regional health bodies replaced primary care trusts in 2013 to control local NHS budgets . E-reward said 56 per cent of the 225 top executives – chief officers and chief finance officers – were paying themselves more than that recommended by NHS England , which runs the Health Service . The approved salary range is £95,000 to £125,000 a year , depending on the size of the clinical commissioning group . The biggest was paid to Martin Sheldon , chief financial officer for Redbridge CCG in Essex , at £280,000 , including the cost of his recruitment . Dr Angela Bhan , chief executive of Bromley CCG in Kent and a doctor specialising in public health , earns £175,000 . To make matters worse , some of the executives received generous redundancy payoffs when primary care trusts were abolished – before walking straight into almost identical roles at CCGs weeks later . MPs said the huge salaries were ‘ shocking and obscene ’ given the increasingly tight constraints on the NHS budget ( file image ) Figures published at the weekend showed the NHS has spent £225million on the so-called revolving-door payoffs on 5,200 staff since 2013 . The average was £43,000 , although some received more than £500,000 . Tory MP Charlotte Leslie , who sits on the Commons Health Select Committee , said : ‘ It is incredible that senior managers are getting paid this kind of money when the NHS is struggling for funds to meet soaring demand . ‘ Not only are they raking in obscene salaries , they are also unaccountable , with no regulatory body like doctors and nurses have . Tory MP Charlotte Leslie said the salaries were 'obscene ' ‘ If executives think it is okay to accept this kind of pay , it suggests they either don ’ t understand the financial pressures on NHS finances , or they don ’ t care . Either way , most people will find this utterly shocking. ’ Dr Peter Carter , chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing , said : ‘ The NHS needs good managers , especially in an environment of perpetual change . ‘ However , it is galling and disheartening for many frontline nursing staff , who have been dealing with the realities of austerity year on year , to see the disproportionate rewards being given to bosses . ‘ Besides the disparity of this for hard-pressed staff enduring a pay squeeze , this is also strong evidence of the high cost of reorganising the NHS . To meet the demands on the service , NHS funds should be going to the front line , not spent on managers or restructures. ’ The NHS budget is under increasing pressure from the demands of a growing and ageing population . Last year , its chief executive Simon Stevens said an extra investment of £8billion was needed over five years merely to maintain standards . Steve Glenn , head of executive remuneration research at e-reward , said bosses were paid a lot to ensure they did not take lucrative private-sector jobs . He added : ‘ There is already quite a bit of activity in the labour market for CCG executives , even though it is only a couple of years since their establishment . ’
each executive pays home £ 280,000 last year - double the Prime Minister . Some 70 other executives earn more than the £ 125,000 salary cap . commentators said the salaries were ' shocking and obscene ' given tight NHS schedules .