Nine in ten Accident & Emergency consultants believe patients will be put at risk this winter as a result of short-staffing, fuelled by a growing pensions crisis.

New rules mean senior medics can be hit with tax rates of more than 90 per cent on their earnings - including their pension contributions - if they earn more than £110,000 a year.

It means consultants have been increasingly cutting back their hours as they can be taxed thousands for earning a penny over the threshold.

A poll of more than 500 A&E consultants by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) reveals that the vast majority are now considering such action.

In total, 77 per cent of the medics said they were thinking of cutting their hours, in order to protect their pensions. And 89 per cent of A&E consultants said they expected the crisis would mean increasing gaps covering rotas in casualty units in coming months.

Boris Johnson has promised to “fix” the problem, with the Treasury to review the rules affecting high-earners, and changes to be introduced from next April.

But NHS leaders say the changes do not go far enough, and have raised fears that in the mean time, safety of key services could become badly compromised.