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Spin doctor appointed to £70,000 job at Department of Health

Former journalist and executive press secretary David Gordon has been appointed as the new director of communications at the Department of Health
Former journalist and executive press secretary David Gordon has been appointed as the new director of communications at the Department of Health Former journalist and executive press secretary David Gordon has been appointed as the new director of communications at the Department of Health

A FORMER Stormont spin doctor and journalist has been appointed as the new 'director of communications' at the crisis-hit Department of Health.

David Gordon, who was controversially appointed as press secretary to the Executive Office last year, but was in post for just six months before power-sharing collapsed, will begin his new job in Castle buildings on Monday.

His salary range will be between £69,961-£79,058.

It is understood that out of the nine Stormont departments, health is the only one where such a post will exist.

The Department is currently firefighting the worst waiting list crisis in living memory and its permanent secretary Richard Pengelly - who is the most senior decision maker in the absence of a health minster - has come under intense scrutiny after sanctioning £70 million cuts to frontline services across health trusts.

Mr Gordon, who was a former editor of BBC's Nolan show, will report directly to Mr Pengelly and take on the new role three days before the public consultation on the controversial multi-million cuts ends.

Trade unions representing health professionals handed a letter of protest to Department chiefs earlier this week in which they branded the permanent secretary as "irresponsible" and said the cuts will put patients at risk.

The 52-year-old journalist, who also worked in the Belfast Telegraph, will not only control the Department's media strategy but will also be heavily involved in the roll-out of former Sinn Féin minister Michelle's O'Neill blueprint for the future of the north's NHS.

Mr Gordon will not only head up internal and external communications at the department but also lead multiple press teams across the north's NHS quangos including the six health trusts, the Health and Social Care Board and Public Health Agency.