EXCLUSIVE: Hospital boss Phil Morley spent £50,000 on his NHS credit card, splashing out on fine dining and luxury hotel stays during his time in East Yorkshire.
The former chief executive spent thousands of pounds on restaurants and hotels at a time when staff at Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital were under intense pressure to make savings of £95m.
While his credit card was used to pay for a £817.50 stay at the five-star Royal Horseguards Hotel in London, the former HQ of Britain's Secret Service during The First World War, and a £1,284.05 stay at the four-star Montague in London, it was also used to pay a £17.88 bill at Greggs bakeries.
The Mail can reveal 15 other members of staff at Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust have also racked up credit card bills totalling almost £1m since the beginning of last year.
While £865k was spent on IT equipment, staff were also using their credit cards to pay for expensive meals, chocolates, flowers, soft furnishings, downloads from iTunes and hotels.
Now, interim chief executive John Saxby, who took over when Mr Morley quit weeks before the publication of a damning report into the running of Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital, has ordered staff to hand back their credit cards.
He said: "Almost all of them have been withdrawn and we will end up with two, one held by IT and one held as a corporate card for when tickets need to be bought for, say, someone travelling to London."
Mr Saxby, who does not hold an NHS credit card, said the trust had been "less than careful" about signing off credit card purchases but rules had now been tightened up, with staff asked to stop travelling first class and to use budget hotels if staying overnight on NHS business.
"My rule of thumb is Travelodge," Mr Saxby said. "I want people to restrict themselves to no more than it would cost in Travelodge.
"I'm asking people just to be sensible, as this is public money at the end of the day. If you could do it cheaper, then that's what you should do."
When Mr Morley joined the trust in October 2010, he rejected a salary of £190,000, claiming it was "too high" and took a £170,000 salary instead.
However, his NHS credit card was used to pay for meals at some of East Yorkshire's fine-dining restaurants, including the Michelin- starred Pipe and Glass in South Dalton, 1884 Dock Kitchen in Hull, Lazaat in Cottingham and the Boar's Nest Farmhouse in Brough.
In 2011, his credit card was used to pay hotel bills of £3,898.20, and £1,605.14 on restaurant bills, including ten visits to the Mill House in Skidby.
His credit card was also used to pay for £281.43 of shopping at Waitrose and his overall bill for his first year as chief executive was £6,376.02.
However, in 2012, his credit card bill was £11,068.32, including £4,454.31 spent on hotels and car hire during the controversial trip to Florida with chief of workforce and organisational development Jayne Adamson and chief operating officer Amanda Pye, which included a sunset cruise on a luxury yacht.
That year, he spent £3,257.96 on other hotel bills, including £663.45 at the exclusive Bloomsbury Hotel in London. His restaurant bill was £1,507.01, including a £100 bill at 1884 Dock Kitchen, six visits to San Luca as well as meals at Lazaat and the Boar's Nest Farmhouse.
His credit card was also used to pay online retailer Amazon £495.05, including a £14.50 digital download.
Last year, his credit card paid for £2,637.70 in restaurant bills, including £325 at Boar's Nest Farmhouse and two bills of £100 and then £350 at 1884 Dock Street Kitchen just eight days apart in July.
Last year, Mr Morley's credit card was used to foot hotel bills of £6,818.49, including the stay at the Royal Horseguards Hotel.
This year, until his resignation in April, his credit card had been used to buy £716.02 of goods from Amazon and pay £447.60 in hotel bills.
However, it was not used to pay restaurant bills.
A team of auditors is checking the credit card statements and has spoken to Mr Morley, who is now as chief executive at Princess Alexandra Hospital Trust in Harlow.
Mr Saxby said: "He has given an assurance to the auditors when they were looking into it that those were legitimate expenses."
Although credit cards had been used to pay restaurant bills, Mr Saxby pointed out the cost was claimed back from professional bodies such as the Royal College of Physicians in "many instances".
The Mail approached Mr Morley but he declined to comment.
• Phil Morley NHS credit card bill: Five-star hotels, fine dining and Greggs
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