More than 100 health professionals across York and North Yorkshire are facing pay cuts of up to £5,000, The Press can reveal.

The 110 members of staff, all of whom work for York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, will be moved down a pay grade as part of a planned cost-cutting measure by the Trust, which has to make millions of pounds of savings.

Those affected work as physiotherapists, speech language therapists, occupational therapists and dieticians.

The changes, which are under consultation, are being challenged by the union Unite.

Terry Cunliffe, regional officer with the union, said “Staff are both angry and very upset about this.

“We have had people in tears. They have come through the grades and now see themselves going backwards.”

He claimed the changes could affect the quality of care given to patients, saying some might leave to take up similar jobs elsewhere where the pay was still better, and the hospital might then struggle to find replacements to fill the vacancies at the lower rate.

He said some employees were facing pay cuts of as much as £5,000 a year after being taken down from Band 7 to Band 6. This would be in contravention of pay grades which had been in place nationwide since 2004, under the NHS’s Agenda for Change agreement.

Mr Cunliffe said the top pay under Band 7 was £40,157 while the top pay on Band 6 was £34,189.

Mr Cunliffe said: “This is just the tip of the iceberg in the NHS. Trusts everywhere are seeking to break the national agreements.”

York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust runs York Hospital as well as Scarborough, Malton, Bridlington and the New Selby Memorial Hospital and other smaller sites.

Patrick Crowley, the head of York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said the Trust has made up to £75 million in cuts over the last three years and may have to cut up to £30 million over the next year.

In a meeting earlier this year, Mr Crowley warned the system in North Yorkshire was “on the brink of crisis” as on a £400 million turnover it now faced having to do everything for £30 million less.

A spokeswoman for the Trust said: “Allied Health Professional (AHP) services are currently being reviewed right across the Trust as part of an overall review since the transfer of community services in 2011 and the acquisition of Scarborough Hospital in 2012.

She said: “The new structure will support professional and clinical leadership and operational management, to improve the equity of access right across the Trust.

“This is to ensure we provide a consistent quality of service for all patients, including those in Selby, Scarborough, Whitby and Ryedale.

“We have been in open consultation with staff since June and the final structure has yet to be decided. Staff have been informed that, depending on the final structure, some posts may change.”