MORE than £1million of taxpayers’ money has been spent by a health trust over the past three years on the salaries of staff who have been suspended.

South Essex Partnership Trust, responsible for mental health services, spent the money in the three years from 2006, including £675,711 in 2008/09 alone.

During this period, a total of 55 staff were suspended for gross misconduct, with 16 of these leading to dismissal.

In 2006/07, the trust spent £195,312 on salaries for suspended staff, rising to £202,772 the following year.

In total, 25 people have been suspended for more than six months and nine for more than a year.

The figures were released to the Echo following a Freedom of Information Act request.

The definition of “gross misconduct” varies between workplaces and can cover a range of offences, but usually serious ones including theft, damaging property, serious neglect, violence, or falsifying time sheets or expenses claim forms.

Stephen Inglesfield, the trust’s assistant director of human resources, said bosses were working to streamline its procedures. He added: “The trust has developed a tighter control of the process with an increased focus on case management of all cases, a new conduct and capability procedure has also been devised following robust discussions with our staff to agree at a joint way forward.

“The trust also undertakes better scrutiny of when it is or is not appropriate to suspend and where redeployment can be used to better effect instead.

“This has led to a significant reduction of the problem in terms of both duration and number of suspensions the trust has had to deal with.”

Spokesman Elliott Spiteri said there is no data available by which the trust can compare the figures to other similar trusts.