Furious health workers demonstrated outside Bristol Royal Infirmary yesterday against the government's refusal to grant a 1 per cent pay increase across the board.

Health union Unite organised the rally due to concern that pay freezes were part of a campaign to privatise the NHS.

Last week's announcement on pay from Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt meant that only those at the top of their pay band will receive the 1 per cent increase - against the advice of the Pay review body.

The remaining 55 per cent of the 1.3 million NHS workforce will have to rely on their annual incremental increase, which is not guaranteed.

The union has stressed that the incremental increases are in recognition of increased knowledge and skills as staff progress in their careers and are not part of the annual pay rise process.

Unite officer Ken Fish said: "It is an insult that Jeremy Hunt did not accept the recommendation of the independent Pay Review Body for a 1 per cent pay rise for all workers.

"This is another kick in the teeth for our NHS members who are already dealing with additional work pressures such as working unpaid longer hours, increased workloads and local attacks on their terms and conditions.

"These attacks on the NHS, which we believe are part of the softening up process to privatise large swathes of the health service, will have a detrimental impact on long-term patient care."