HOSPITAL bosses have defended their policies on overtime pay - after it emerged that one Lancashire consultant earned £375,000 extra.

One unnamed doctor at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, which covers Chorley Hospital, was given the additional premium-rate payout, according to a Freedom of Information Act request.

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Some consultants can expect £1,000 for four hours’ work. Another unidentified consultant at Blackpool Victoria Hospital earned £183,204.

Campaigners fighting the closure of Chorley Hospital, where the accident and emergency ward is temporarily closed, reportedly because of difficulty recruiting consultants.

Chorley MP Lindsay Hoyle said: “This is an astonishing amount of money. The trust was offering lower wages than other A&E departments and now we have this.”

Karen Partington, the hospital trust’s chief executive, said: “A combination of a high level of referrals, shortage of locums and difficulties recruiting to this particular speciality has resulted in one of our consultants working significantly more hours than usual at an enhanced rate.”

Extra clinics were required during the week and at weekends to meet patient demand, she added.

No figures were available for East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, which manages the Royal Blackburn and Burnley General sites, and has ongoing problems with emergency department consultant recruitment.

Keith Brent, BMA consultants’ leader, said: “These payments are made because there simply are not enough doctors and hospitals are under pressure to meet waiting time targets.”

The Department of Health said the NHS would have over 11,000 more doctors by 2020. A spokesman said: “Consultants do a vital job and should be properly rewarded, but this analysis shows why we are working with the BMA to replace a unique evening and weekend ‘opt-out’ in the existing contract.” Nationally, hospital overtime pay is understood to have grown from £125m to £168m from 2014-15 to the following year.