NHS bosses in Lancashire have been criticised for taking pay rises of up to 22 per cent while nurses were left facing a pay freeze.

Management at Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust have defended significant wage hikes for several executives, revealed in their latest accounts.

But after the move provoked fury among staff, members of the senior management team say they will not be pocketing similar increases this year.

Human resources director Joanne Marshall saw her pay packet swell from £90,000 to £95,000 to £110,000 to £115,000. She also received £12,300 in ‘benefits in kind’ according to the trust’s 2011-12 accounts, alongside a wage increase of up to 22.2 per cent.

Finance director David Tomlinson saw his salary increase from £110,000 to £115,000 to £130,000 to £135,000, or around 18.1 per cent.

And chief executive Prof Heather Tierney-Moore’s salary rose by around 8.5 per cent from £175,000 to £180,000, up to the £190,000 to £195,000 bracket.

Tim Ellis, regional secretary for Unison, said it was accepted that staff in the NHS should be rewarded for their efforts but the revelation about wages had left his members ‘furious’.

He added: “There are major concerns, after two years of a pay freeze for most staff at the trust, when we see pay rises at these levels.”

A Lancashire Care spokesman said that during 2011-12 the trust took responsibility for £120million of community services, which had ‘significantly increased the size and complexity of the organisation’.

He added: “An independent review of executive salaries, following a decision not to increase the size of the board, was commissioned.

“The review made comparisons with similar-sized organisations from a range of sectors and considered the recent Hutton Inquiry review of salaries.

“The outcome of this work resulted in a complexity element added to executive salaries which is only payable subject to satisfactory performance in line with one of the Hutton recommendations.

“In 2012-13 the remuneration committee has agreed that there will be no increase on base salaries, complexity elements and no increment payments for executives.”

According to its website Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust employs around 7,000 members of staff across more than 400 sites.