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.