EXTERNAL consultants brought in to turn around a £2.2m deficit in Barnsley Hospital’s theatres are being paid up to £869 per day, the Chronicle can reveal.

The ‘turnaround team’ has cost the trust more than a quarter-of-a-million pounds since it was appointed in March, a freedom of information request has shown.

One consultant left in August and the two remaining staff are expected to stay until next month, meaning the £266,000 bill will rise.

Unions slammed the figures as ridiculous at a time when mass redundancies were expected across the health sector in Barnsley.

Unison branch secretary Tony Wright said the exorbitant salaries would further demoralise front-line staff.

“These so called experts have been paid more in a day than some of our members earn in a month, it’s a disgrace,” he said.

A hospital spokesman said the team was brought in to ‘help address the shortfall in contribution and to help reconfigure the services’.

“The turnaround team is due to leave the Trust in October this year, having put various efficiency measures in place. These will bring the surgical division back into line with the Trust's 2010 to 2011 financial plan.”

More in the Chronicle, Friday, September 17