Union leaders have insisted a record-breaking five per cent pay rise that is being offered to more than 160,000 NHS workers across is “simply not good enough”.

Scottish Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said the proposed wages hike - which could amount to £2,400 a year for some frontline employees - was a “demonstration of how much we value our NHS staff .”

But union leaders insisted they needed to “go further”.

Jaki Lambert, director for Scotland for the Royal College of Midwives, said: “The Government’s pay offer for our members is simply not good enough.

“Our members are struggling with the rising cost of living and 5% is not enough to counteract the increases in inflation.”