The new director of finance for Kingston's Primary Care Trust (PCT) is reputed to have received a huge redundancy package from his last post, despite continuing to work in the NHS.

The pay-out to Rob Yeomans, rumoured to be in excess of £100,000, has caused outrage among some of his NHS colleagues, particularly when many PCTs, including Kingston, are making service cuts to get back into the black.

Under NHS rules, if a worker is made redundant and then re-employed by the NHS within four weeks, they are not liable for a pay-out. But since leaving South Coast Strategic Health Authority (SHA) on March 31, Mr Yeomans has been working without a break for Kingston PCT.

Legally, his redundancy payment looks secure as he has been employed on a three-month contract through an external agency, so therefore is not technically an NHS employee, despite being the man who has been running Kingston PCT's finances.

He begins his permanent contract on July 1. A Kingston PCT spokeswoman said Mr Yeomans' terms of employment were being looked at by its remuneration and conditions of service committee, but refused to confirm how much he was paid in redundancy.

She said Mr Yeomans was selected for his new post from 10 applicants by a panel taken from the PCT board, independent assessors and NHS London SHA.

She added: "We do not normally comment on individual employment details of any of our staff. The PCT can give an assurance that the selection process and appointment arrangements have been rigorous, transparent, and within NHS rules."

Mr Yeomans began working for Kingston PCT in January on secondment from South Coast SHA, in the knowledge he would be made redundant when two health authorities merged in March.

A spokesman for South Coast SHA said everyone receiving redundancy signed a disclaimer saying they would not be re-employed within the NHS within four weeks.

The Surrey Comet became aware of the row after an insider wrote to us anonymously about Mr Yeomans' redundancy payment. "In a time when Kingston PCT is reporting a £20million overspend and the whole NHS is struggling to make ends meet, I find this to be morally unacceptable," they said.

Michael Walker, the Unison representative for the PCT, said: "They would never allow any of our staff to work on an agency basis - we have had problems where people lose their jobs and then can't work. Staff have been talking about this and at a time of redundancies the PCT needs to be careful to be completely transparent."

Mr Yeomans was not available for comment.