Nurses from across east London will join in a major rally this weekend over a government decision to freeze the pay of some NHS staff.

Staff from Whipps Cross University Hospital in Leytonstone are expected to join thousands to march from Embankment to Hyde Park, as part of the Trade Union Council’s Britain Needs a Pay Rise event.

In March, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt sparked anger by overuling the independent NHS Pay Review Body’s recommendation of a 1% pay rise for all staff.

Dionne Daniel, senior sister at Barts Health, which runs Whipps Cross, said: “I am passionate about my job and I love nursing but the salary freeze that we have endured for the last three years or so has taken its toll.

“The final straw was the government deciding against applying the pay raise recommended. People are doing lots of extra shifts to survive especially those that live in London.

“Most of us work extra hours, making sacrifices for the NHS that we love.”

Royal College of Nursing members are taking part.

A Department of Health spokesman said: “NHS staff are our greatest asset, and we've increased the NHS budget to pay for over 12,500 more clinical staff since 2010.

"We cannot afford a pay rise in addition to increments - which disproportionately reward the highest earners - without risking frontline jobs."