SUGGESTIONS that North-East hospital bosses have enjoyed above inflation pay increases have been denied by NHS trusts.

A report published earlier this week suggested that changes in the way NHS chief executives' salaries are disclosed could conceal large increases.

Research by Income Data Services has shown that the way the figures are reported means that almost a quarter of UK trust chief executives could have received huge 20 per cent pay rises last year.

But North-East trusts said that chief executives received increases in line with the national pay review body which covers all NHS staff.

Liz Twist, Northern regional secretary of public services union Unison, said: "We are in favour of salaries that recognise responsibilities of the job, but pay rises need to be transparent."

A spokeswoman for the County Durham and Darlington Hospitals Trust said chief executive John Saxby earned £125,000 per annum.

Before his appointment to the post last year, his salary saw annual increases in line with inflation, she said.

Len Fenwick, chief executive of the Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust, could not be contacted, but a spokeswoman for the Newcastle Hospitals trust said Mr Fenwick's salary increase had also been in line with inflation. The research showed that the number of chief executives earning £100,000 or more increased to a third last year.

While the average salary for bosses in the Northern and Yorkshire areas is £107,500, that compares to £98,000 in London. An IDS spokesman said the higher figure probably reflected the fact that many big Northern hospitals covered large areas.