WOMEN at Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust earn on average 5.4 per cent less than their male colleagues, according to the latest gender pay gap report.

The disparity comes despite around 80 per cent of the workforce being female.

Oxford Health bosses have said the pay gap, different to equal pay which deals with the pay difference between men and women who carry out the same job, is down to a higher proportion of men occupying higher paid senior or management roles.

The report released this month revealed that the median pay gap at the trust is 5.4 per cent - this is the difference in pay between the middle-ranking man and the middle-ranking woman.

Read again: Gender pay gap widens at Oxford University Hospitals

The median gap is significantly less than that seen at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust which recorded a 15.2 per cent pay disparity between men and women.

Oxford Health runs the county's NHS mental health services and community hospitals.

Trust chiefs have said actions are already in place to help bring down the gap including continuing to monitor and review the gender pay gap, while also reviewing recruitment and promotion policies.

The trust has also said it will pay particular attention to senior appointments in the future.