The source of an anonymous letter leaking sensitive details of doctors' pay and accusing them of being greedy is being investigated by Canterbury District Health Board.
The letter claims Canterbury's highest-paid hospital doctor earned more than $300,000 a year.
The author said that while senior doctors received largepay increases over recent years, increases for other health professionals had lagged behind.
The letter was headed "The silent ones have had enough" and was delivered to The Press newspaper last week.
The board yesterday confirmed it was trying to identify who wrote the letter and leaked the accompanying report on hospital doctors' pay scales.
The board said at this stage it had no idea who the author was.
The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists which represents senior doctors, told the newspaper the "amateurish and abusive" language used in the letter pointed to a disgruntled administrative worker with little knowledge of doctors' responsibility or workload.
However, the union that represents junior doctors, said it believed the letter was penned by the DHB in an attempt to undermine medics as the two parties remain locked in an increasingly acrimonious pay dispute.
