Male staff at King's Mill paid 28.8 per cent more than females on average

However, the gender pay gap at the trust has decreased year-on-year and extra work is planned to address the imbalance.

Sherwood Forest Hospital NHS Trust papers reveal male staff are paid £23.08 per hour on average, while female employees have an average hourly wage of £16.44, a difference of £6.64.

This is despite there being 5,620 female staff at the trust, which runs King’s Mill, Mansfield Community and Newark hospitals, compared with 1,213 male employees.

Trust papers say the gap is the result of a greater percentage of men in higher-paid jobs. Some 43.2 per cent of male staff are earning the highest rate of pay, compared with just 21.5 per cent of females.

The trust saw an increase in females taking on higher-paid roles in 2022, while the number of males remained “broadly the same”, which helped decrease the pay gap by 5.4 per cent compared with 2021.

However, the gap is considerably smaller when considering the median pay difference – the hourly rate at the mid-point of each scale for each gender, rather than the average rate for all employees.

Figures show men earn a median hourly rate of £18.47, compared with £15.91 for women, a gap of £2.56.

The trust said this figure is “more indicative”, because it is “impacted less by the female-to-male ratio”.

In papers, the trust said: “The lower and lower-middle quartiles have the most pronounced gender split, because female staff are the predominant majority.

“In the lower quartiles are administrative and ancillary staff, such as healthcare support workers, that traditionally attract a higher proportion of females.

“The upper quartile has a lower proportion of females, because of different gender splits in medical staffing and senior management roles, although the gap is closing.”

The issue was discussed during the trust’s latest board meeting. Directors heard measures are in place to cut the gap further, including ensuring gender balance during recruitment panels and attempts to “identify and address the gap in the female medical workforce”.

The trust also plans to “actively promote leadership opportunities” to lower-paid and female staff.

Robert Simcox, trust director of people, said: “There will be a continued focus on addressing the gap.”