Staff at Wolverhampton's New Cross hospital to earn a living wage

David Loughton said he hopes the move to ensure all staff at New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton get the £7.85 per hour wage will 'put pressure' on other employers in the area to do the same.

The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust said it expects to source the funds required to pay for the scheme by making 'efficiency savings across the trust'.

Currently, 458 employees at the Wednesfield hospital don't hit the threshold, which is calculated according to the basic cost of living in the UK.

Mr Loughton said he was 'staggered' when he found out how many people were not being paid the amount and pledged to increase the wages of those who weren't from August 1.

The people whose wages fell short of the living wage threshold, mainly health care assistants, were being paid £7.72 an hour.

Mr Loughton estimated that the change would cost the trust around £88,000 a year, without taking into account payment for unsocial working hours.

During a trust board meeting, he said: "I was staggered when I found out from trade union representatives that we had 458 members of staff who aren't on the living wage.

"I suggest we do something about it because I think this is really important.

"I thought about this some time back but I believe we should do something now.

"We are one of the largest employers in Wolverhampton and this will put pressure other employers to follow suit, which is a good thing."

Councillor Phil Bateman, who has recently taken on a role as an observer for the council during the Royal Wolverhampton Trust meetings, said Mr Loughton's decision was 'great news' for the city.

He said: "This is great news, especially for the 458 people who will be getting a pay rise.

"In a wider context, it is great news for the city. I was particularly pleased by David Loughton's claim that he wanted to put pressure on other companies to also pay their staff the living wage."