The new head of finance at Medway hospital was in charge of the purse strings at scandal-hit Mid Staffs when its debt more than trebled.

Darren Cattell has been appointed interim finance director at Medway NHS Foundation Trust which is £42m in debt.

He joins the board as Medway’s debt has more than quadrupled in the last two years - despite spending more than £1.5m on financial consultants.

On average, the Trust, which is still in special measures, is losing around £1m a week. In December alone its deficit was £6.3m - almost £3m more than predicted.

Mr Cattell is among the best paid finance directors in the NHS.

A spokesman for Medway said he is bringing “a wealth of invaluable experience” to the Trust.

But in the two years before he left Mid Staffordshire, the Trust’s deficit rose from £4.7m to £16m.

During his last year in the post Mr Cattell was paid between £335,000 and £340,000 - the equivalent of £1,475 a day, according to the Daily Telegraph. The money went to his private company, Mill Street Consultancy.

Mr Cattell left Mid Staffs in May 2012, four months before a team of accountants and consultants was brought in to investigate a £20m deficit. The Trust was placed into administration in April 2013.

Mr Cattell takes over from Medway’s previous interim finance director Tim Bolot, who left at the end of December with the Trust £41.9m in debt. Since Mr Bolot took on the role June 2014, Medway’s deficit has more than quadrupled.

According to the hospital’s accounts, its deficit is expected to rise to £48.5m by the end of the 2015-16 financial year in March. This is an increase from £10m in 2013-14, just before Mr Bolot started, and £30m in 2014-15.

Mr Bolot’s firm, Bolt Partners, was paid £85,000 a month.

A spokesman for Medway NHS Foundation Trust said its contract with Bolt Partners ended in December 2015 “as planned”.

He added: “Darren Cattell joined the Trust this week as interim director of finance. Darren possesses a wealth of invaluable experience, providing expertise and support to NHS trusts with similar challenges to what we currently face.

“He joins at a critical time as we set about delivering our improvement plan in response to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) report, tackling our current financial deficit and ensuring we continue to pave the way for a new era of stability and strong leadership at Medway Hospital.

“In keeping with the rest of our executive directors’ salaries, his position has been benchmarked against other NHS Trusts, which are facing similar challenges, and are competitive within the market.

“Clearly, we recognise our current financial position for this financial year is higher than originally anticipated. The overriding reason for this increase is largely due to the improvements we’ve invested in to help improve patient care and their overall experience at the hospital.

“In response to our financial challenge, we are recruiting more permanent staff than ever as we move increasingly away from our reliance on agency staff – evidence of which will be the arrival of 100 new permanent nurses this year.

"In addition, we have also undertaken a review of the hospital estate to ensure that we are making optimum use of any space, which could be put to better use by doctors and nurses. This will ultimately benefit our patients in the process.”

Medway Maritime remains in special measures, three years after a review of death rates, and it was once again rated inadequate following its latest inspection by the Care Quality Commission.