Union leaders have slammed a cash-strapped health trust's decision to pay off a former director with a £243,000 golden handshake.

Dr Iheadi Onwukwe, 41, received the pay-off from Eastbourne Downs Primary Care Trust after quitting over a row with a senior colleague.

He had already been put on "gardening leave" for two and a half years, meaning he worked for the trust for just three weeks.

The £130,000-a-year public health director was given the golden handshake when the trust, which became East Sussex Downs and Weald PCT last year, was £4.6 million in the red.

The money could have paid for about 12 nurses, 300 cataract operations or 40 heart bypasses.

Angry union members and MPs have claimed that after the dispute Dr Onwukwe was effectively paid his salary to do nothing before he was paid off.

Maurice Lawlor of the Royal College of Nursing said: "This is an excessive amount of moneyIt couldn't have come at a worse time in terms of staff morale. They are well aware the trust is trying to save money."

Health bosses at first refused to name Nigerian Dr Onwukwe but his identity was revealed after pressure in Parliament from Lewes MP Norman Baker.

Mr Baker has written to the strategic health authority and Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt to demand an explanation for "an incredible and grotesque waste of public money".

Unison officer Pete Croxford said: "We deplore the very principle of this pay-off, particularly when cuts in budget and service provision are being made."

East Sussex Downs and Weald PCT is responsible for drawing up proposals which could lead to cuts in hospital services.

The settlement comes after the trust, which is £900,000 in the red after cost-cutting, gave former Eastbourne Hospital chief executive Annette Sergeant a £231,000 pay-off.

She quit after the hospital was slammed by the Healthcare Commission.

The trust said: "The payment was agreed in accordance with NHS guidance. The PCT took advice from the Department of Health and its own solicitors through the process."

Dr Onwukwe, of Wallington, Surrey, is believed to be in Nigeria. He was yesterday unavailable for comment.