Health service bosses were under fire tonight for shelling out millions of pounds on 'woke non-jobs' as frontline workers strike for better pay.
The Daily Mail can reveal that more than £1million worth of 'equality, diversity and inclusion' related positions are on offer in hospitals and trusts across England and Wales, with most salaries dwarfing that of the average nurse.
The revelations come as the beleaguered health service struggles with a record-high 7.2million waiting list.
And this week nurses and paramedics held walkouts for two days of strikes, with further strikes announced for January yesterday.
The news that more than £1 million of diversity and inclusion comes amid the first-ever strike by nurses in England and Wales
Ambulance staff have also been striking over pay and conditions this month, with officials asking the public to only call 999 in life-threatening situations
One trust is recruiting for a 'mindfulness lead' to help staff meditate, for £40,000 a year.
Another is looking for someone to 'act as a change agent', for up to £54,000, while a third health board offers its 'lived experience training lead' free yoga and Pilates sessions as part of the employment package.
Of the 20 'equality, diversity and inclusion' (EDI)-related adverts analysed in a Mail audit, two thirds paid higher salaries than the average nurse's annual pay packet of £33,384, as estimated by the Royal College of Nursing.
The most lucrative ad, for an 'associate director of equality, diversity and inclusion', paid almost three times this figure at nearly £97,000.
Sir John Hayes, chairman of the Common Sense Group of 60 Tory MPs, called for the health service to spend more cash on patient care and clinical roles.
The most lucrative ad, for an 'associate director of equality, diversity and inclusion', paid almost three times this figure at nearly £97,000
'While many roles with 'equality' or 'diversity' in the title are set up with good intentions, they often become meaningless or even worse,' he said.
'Yes, we all support the idea of a workforce which is happy and well supported, but we don't want people to lecture us and unfortunately that is what many public bodies are doing.'
Jonathan Gullis, Tory MP for Stoke-on-Trent North, Kidsgrove & Talke, added: 'It's quite clear to people that this amount of money being wasted on these woke non-jobs could be better invested on frontline staff like nurses and ambulance drivers who are currently on strike for better pay.
'It is wasting millions of pounds of hard-earned taxpayers' money at a time when we are still tackling the Covid backlog and going through a cost of living crisis.'
It comes six months after former health secretary Sajid Javid said there were 'too many working in roles focused solely on diversity and inclusion' in the health service.
Nurses stage a protest outside St Thomas' Hospital in London earlier this week as they demand better pay
Ambulance staff protest outside Waterloo ambulance station on Wednesday as paramedics, technicians and call handlers walk out