Dutch hospital consultants are threatening legal action against their government’s proposals to claw back hundreds of millions of euros from their salaries after a new payment system—designed to reward performance—sparked steep pay rises.

Both sides accept that the new system, based on declarations of treatments carried out rather than on lump sum payments, has flaws. Some hospital consultants—already among the best paid in the world—found their salaries unintentionally increased by 50% in 2008.

Measures now proposed include an 11% cut across the board for all consultants’ hourly pay rates in a bid to avoid an overspend of €375m (£323m; $534m) in 2010.

But …