Alan Milburn has warned nurses that pay rises will not be a "something for nothing arrangement".

The health secretary set out the government's plans for the NHS - but refused to yield to health workers' demands for "substantial" pay increases.He said nurses had a responsibility to deliver improvements in productivity and flexibility.

"Investment in pay, just like every other area of future NHS spending, has to pass our acid test - it must contribute to expansion in NHS capacity, it must bring about increases in NHS productivity and it must deliver improved NHS performance," Milburn said.