It’s that time of the week again. Our weekly trawl through the Guardian Society pages never fails to surprise us with their banal array of jobs on offer. Our pick this week is from the London NHS. They’re advertising for a doctor. No, not the kind of doctor who saves lives but a spin doctor – employed by the taxpayer – to save reputations.
In advertising for a ‘communications media manager’, the London NHS needs a hack to place good news in the press and rebut the bad. This is £42,054 of your money on a spin doctor. Compare that with the pitiful £17,000 nurse’s starting salary and it’s enough to make you feel sick.
Our non job of the week:
“Communications Media Manager
Band 7 Salary £33,146 - £42,054
We are recruiting a communications media manager who will have day-to-day responsibility for ensuring NHS London’s voice is heard in the media. We need someone who is a good operator with a proven record in placing positive stories and rebutting bad news. The successful applicant will have excellent oral and written communications skills. They will work in a busy office, often giving advice to communications teams in London’s 71 trusts and PCTs. The postholder will receive an allowance for being part of an out-of-hours on-call rota.”