More than a million NHS staff in England are set to get a 5 per cent pay rise.

The news comes after unions backed the deal, which was first proposed in March. The deal was agreed at a meeting between the government and the 14 health unions representing all NHS staff apart from doctors and dentists.

Some staff including ambulance workers, nurses, physios and porters will also get a one-off sum of at least £1,655.

Sara Gorton, head of health at Unison, who chairs the joint NHS union group said: "NHS workers will now want the pay rise they've voted to accept. The hope is that the one-off payment and salary increase will be in June's pay packets."

"Proper pay talks last autumn could have stopped health workers missing out on money they could ill afford to lose. The NHS and patients would also have been spared months of disruption."

Some unions including the Royal College of Nursing and Unite could still strike again.