HUNDREDS of thousands of trade unionists took to the streets yesterday as part of a national day of action to defend NHS workers’ pay.

Doctors, nurses, paramedics and other staff took action short of strike after the government failed to address concerns over a whopping £1.5 billion in unpaid overtime.

“Unpaid overtime is effectively keeping the NHS going,” said TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady.

But she warned an effective four-year pay freeze meant health workers felt that “the government is taking them for granted.”

She said: “Government has chosen to ignore the advice of the pay review body and is continuing to hold down the salaries of nurses, paramedics and other NHS workers for at least another year.”

A total of 14 unions stand behind the TUC’s All Together for the NHS campaign which organised the protests.

And 400,000 Unison members alone were thought to have taken part.

Events took place across England and Wales, with larger actions held in Liverpool outside the 2014 NHS Confederation conference and in London at the Department of Health, where trade unionists held giant £1.5bn cheques to highlight their pay grievance.

GMB national officer Rehana Azam was in Liverpool where she told protesters: “NHS staff work tirelessly and this direct attack is unacceptable.”

And in Wales major demos were called in Wrexham, Cardiff and Glamorgan among other areas.

Unison Cymru head of health Dawn Bowden said members “hit hard by the rise in the cost of food and fuel coupled with housing and benefit cuts” were suffering.

“We are calling on the Welsh government to commit to a fairer deal for health workers than that proposed by the UK government.”

Britain’s Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt claims the government lacks the funds for a 1 per cent pay increase to the majority of NHS workers.

The TUC, however, argues that this would cost less than half of the money “donated” by those doing unpaid overtime work. 

London Health Emergency’s director John Lister told the Star the day was “very encouraging.

“There is a mood starting to develop among health workers that they have had enough.”

All unions promised to continue fighting in the months to come.