As the group's first Pay Gap report covering gender, ethnicity and disability was shared at the public group board meeting, Blythe said: ‘One of the best ways to address pay gaps is to be transparent about them, so it's really important that we are publishing this report – so we can see where we've made improvements and where we need to go further.'

Women make up the majority of the workforce at both trusts – 71% at St George's and 75% at Epsom and St Helier.

The report shows that the mean gender pay gap seems to have widened when taken at face value – around 12% at St George's and 15% at Epsom and St Helier (ESTH).

However, when removing consultants and just looking at Agenda for Change (AfC) staff, including very senior managers, the pay gap is actually in favour of female staff (-1.2%) at St George's and neutral (0.2%) at ESTH. 

One of the reasons for this is that consultants can receive additional earnings - such as National Clinical Impact Awards (NCIAs) - which could increase pay by up to £40,000 a year for five years. Open to men and women, NHS England rewards NCIAs through a competitive process for making a demonstrable impact in areas including improving patient care at scale, innovation, and service transformation.  

Blythe, who is soon to become the new chief executive at the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, added: ‘We know staff in part-time roles are less likely to apply for bonuses, which disproportionately affects women. We want to actively encourage and support more women at Gesh, including those not working full time, to feel comfortable putting themselves forward for these awards. We can influence that, which will influence the pay gap.'

One of the ways Gesh is striving to be more inclusive is through a new Inclusion Board – to strengthen inclusive leadership and ensure diverse perspectives and lived experiences help to inform board-level discussions and decision-making.  

The group has also recently launched new policies for flexible working, menopause and special leave, to help staff achieve a healthy work-life balance and address the gender pay gap.