Unions have accused the government of "taking a scalpel" to the pay of health workers by refusing to give an across-the-board wage rise.

Increases of 1 per cent will be given to some staff in the NHS, as well as to members of the armed forces, doctors and dentists, senior civil servants, prison officers and the judiciary.

But an estimated 600,000 health workers will only receive their normal incremental pay rise - given to workers as they gain more skills and experience in the profession - rather than the 1 per cent which had been recommended by a pay review body.

Unions reacted with fury, saying the announcement meant over 60 per cent of NHS staff will not receive a pay rise in the coming financial year, including 70 per cent of nurses and midwives.

Unison national officer Christina McAnea said: "The government has shown complete contempt for the NHS, contempt for staff and contempt for patients and will pay the price at the ballot box.

"Even a straight 1 per cent increase would be nowhere near enough to meet the massive cost of living increases that NHS staff have had to cope with since 2010. Staff are on average 10 per cent worse off than when the coalition came to power."

Rehana Azam, national officer of the GMB, said members across the country will take the blocking of a full 1 per cent pay rise as a personal insult.

GMB members will be balloted to decide the next steps in the dispute while Unite warned of possible industrial action over the "divide and rule" decision on pay.

Unite's head of health Rachael Maskell said the move by Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt called into serious question the relevance of the "so-called" independent pay review body.

"He is deliberately muddying the waters by trying to imply that the annual increment that staff receive, as they gain more skills to benefit patients throughout their careers, is part of the annual pay increase - it is not. It is despicable that Hunt has adopted such an underhand tactic."

TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady called it "national destroy public-sector morale day" as the announcement represents a further cut in workers' living standards despite the so-called economic recovery.