Nurses and doctors were handed above inflation pay awards yesterday - but unions warned the increases would do little to resolve the NHS recruitment crisis.

All nurses will receive a basic 3.7 per cent salary increase from April 2001, above the 3.2 per cent headline rate of inflation

But senior nurses will do better, with rises of more than five per cent for about 70,000 sisters, ward managers and other experienced staff from next year.

Nurses in London are in line for rises of between 6.2 per cent and nine per cent when other allowances such as cost of living supplements are taken into account.

Hospital doctors, junior medics, GPs and dentists will get a 3.9 per cent increase, meaning an overall 4 per cent rise in the NHS pay bill.

It is the third consecutive year that the Government has accepted in full the recommendations of the independent pay review bodies for nurses, dentists and doctors.

The Government has pledged to supply an extra 20,000 nurses, 2,000 GPs and 7,500 consultants to the NHS in the next five years.

But both doctors' and nurses' leaders said the pay awards were not large enough to raise morale among NHS workers and stem the recruitment crisis.

British Medical Association chairman Dr Ian Bogle said: "While it is an above-inflation award, it will do little to motivate frontline staff and even less to tackle the major shortfall of doctors in the UK."

Christine Hancock, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said: "It will be good news for ward sisters, specialist clinical nurses and community nurses who have borne the brunt of pressures and who are key to modernising the health service."

But she added: "Many staff nurses will be disappointed by a basic uplift of 3.7 per cent as alone it won't bring fast progress in encouraging nurses back to the health service."

The awards mean that a newly-qualified nurse's pay will rise from a minimum of £14,890 to £15,445 from next April.

Experienced staff nurses on a Grade E position will see their wages increase from at least £15,920 to £16,510 a year.

Nurse consultants could see their pay rise to a maximum of £45,050 from April 2001, compared to £43,440 this year.

A hospital consultant's starting salary will go from between £48,905 and £63,640 to between £50,810 and £66,120, with top specialists able to earn up to £128,935. GPs should see their income rise from £54,220 to £56,335 from next year.

Health Secretary Alan Milburn said: "We are determined to do right by frontline NHS staff.

"Year on year, we are making steady progress on increasing their numbers and improving pay rates.

He added: "For the third year in a row, the awards will be paid in full, without staging.

"The biggest rise in NHS spending for a generation means that we can expand the numbers of staff in the NHS and increase rates of pay."

Gill Hale, North-East regional secretary of Unison, which represents 15,000 nurses, said: "I can't see this is going to encourage lots of young people to come into nursing. We had quite a big build-up but it is a bit of a missed opportunity."

Martin O'Neill, regional officer with the RCN, which also represents 15,000 nurses, was concerned that the extra London weighting for nurses working in the capital could entice North-East nurses to head South.

Teesside GP Dr John Canning said he would have liked to have seen more measures to encourage older GPs to stay on rather than seek early retirement, which is a growing problem in the North-East.

Shadow Health Secretary Liam Fox said: "Unless any award is met with extra funds from the Treasury, the cost will inevitably come out of frontline services.