The Government's NHS pay policy will cause "lasting damage" to the service and hit staffing, unions have warned.
The health service's Pay Review Body (PRB) has been placed in a "straitjacket" because ministers have imposed a 1% pay limit, preventing it from carrying out a proper independent review of wages, it was claimed.
A submission from 14 unions representing health workers said morale had suffered after a pay dispute last year which led to strikes.
Christina McAnea, national officer of Unison said: "Nurses, paramedics, healthcare assistants and everyone else in the NHS are stretched to breaking point.
"They have already seen their real wages cut by up to 18% while their bills continue to rise.
"Every day they are expected to cover for staff shortages and deal with more and more patients. Yet the Government says they are only worth a paltry 1% or even less.
"Our evidence to the PRB demonstrates that what the service badly needs is a long-term co-ordinated pay and workforce strategy."
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