Media Watch: public sector salaries

It says nearly 200 public sector staff earn more than prime minister Gordon Brown.

NHS managers get off fairly lightly but the Hull Daily Mail outs Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals trust chief executive Stephen Greep as occupying 242nd place on the list. He has not yet managed to surpass the prime minister's salary - something to aim for next year perhaps?

This week's most impressive feat of manager-bashing comes from Observer columnist Nick Cohen, who has taken up the mantle from Liberal Democrat Vince "sack them all" Cable. Mr Cohen deserves a special mention for reducing the battle against hospital acquired infections to a Holby City plotline.

Lavish funding

"The Department of Health has seen multiple failure [sic]. Its managers could not cope with MRSA and as culpably, did not pass on the benefits of the lavish increases in funding to patients. Rather than carry on with a broken system, it decided to transfer power to doctors... Managers who have been doctors and nurses know how to stop simple conditions becoming expensive illnesses because they have medical training as well as MBAs." Bet you didn't realise it was that easy.

But even the medical training and MBAs can't stop surgeons "drilling holes in the wrong side of patients' heads during brain surgery", according to The Daily Telegraph (again).

Presumably, by Mr Cohen's logic, this is a job for managers.