PATRICIA HEWITT, the Health Secretary, is to hire a personal speechwriter to overhaul the flagging reputation of government health policy as deficits in the NHS continue to soar.

Days after revelations that health service debts have passed £800 million this year, it has emerged that the Department of Health is inviting applications for the new role of speechwriter to help to sell its controversial reforms.

Advertisements for the part-time post, published on Thursday, suggest that the successful applicant can expect up to £56,000 a year for only 18 hours’ work a week — the equivalent of almost £70 an hour. The rate, which would amount to a £120,000 annual salary, is 30 per cent higher than that paid to President Bush’s leading speechwriter.

The employment company fielding applications also confirmed that the salary was as advertised and was designed to attract “senior figures” to the role. It has prompted criticism of excessive spending at a time when hospitals are being forced to cut services for lack of funds.

However, the department said last night that an error had been made when drawing up the job details. It said that the actual salary would be a pro rata payment, and the speechwriter could expect to earn between £18,000 and £26,000 a year. A spokeswoman said that applicants for the job would be notified of the mistake.

According to the advertisement, published online and in the media magazine Press Gazette, the speechwriter will be working alongside Ms Hewitt. “In this pivotal role you will draft speeches for the Secretary of State for Health, collating material and information from senior officials, producing polished drafts within tight deadlines and ensuring every speech reflects her personal style,” the offer reads.

The applicant will also be expected to support junior ministers in the department and “coach” others to develop speechwriting skills. It is the first time that such a role has been used by the department in at least ten years. Advisers to John Reid, Ruth Kelly, Charles Clarke and Peter Hain confirmed that they used teams of civil servants to draft their speeches but did not have personal speechwriters.

The health department job requires applicants to demonstrate the ability to craft “lucid, coherent and persuasive speeches” for high-profile occasions. It also demands a high level of skill at editing and “conducting extensive rewriting within tight timescales”. “And above all,” it adds, “translating factual material into engaging persuasive arguments.”

The disclosure will increase public scrutiny of Ms Hewitt, who has faced a week of mounting political pressure over huge cost overruns in the NHS and a loan to MG Rover as Trade and Industry Secretary.

Downing Street is said to be “anxious” over the size of NHS deficits, which have accompanied a period of unprecedented investment in the service. Sir Nigel Crisp, the head of the NHS, was seen to have paid the price when his early retirement was announced on Tuesday.

BBC Two’s Newsnight has found that two thirds of the strategic health authorities predict deficits this year, with some reporting a £100 million shortfall. Their combined deficit could be close to £760 million by the end of the financial year, according to the survey of the 28 authorities, which control the bulk of the NHS’s £76 billion budget.

But despite Ms Hewitt’s difficulties, she is tipped to remain in her post during Tony Blair’s impending reshuffle. The most likely victims of the health department’s woes are the Ministers of State Jane Kennedy and Rosie Winterton.

One of them could make way for Liam Byrne, a junior health minister who is seen as a rising star. There has been speculation that his promotion would create a place on the ministerial ladder for Ed Balls, the former right-hand man of Gordon Brown.

Frank Dobson, the Labour MP and former Health Secretary, told The Times that the move to introduce a speechwriter was unnecessary at a time of spiralling NHS deficits.

He said: “Instead of spending NHS money on trying to put a fancy gloss on some of the more silly policies it might be a better idea to review the policies, because no amount of polish will make the bad policies seem good.”

Mr Dobson added: “As making speeches is what MPs do, and some of them are really quite good, why doesn’t Ms Hewitt just bring in a couple of ambitious backbenchers who agree with the Government’s policy to help her?”

VALUE JUDGEMENT

‘We have written a very big cheque for the NHS, but it is not a blank cheque. Money that is wasted or spent inefficiently means less for patients who need treatment’

PATRICIA HEWITT
January 25, 2006

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