The pay review body for the NHS in England needs to show its mettle or risk being abandoned, the CSP has said.
The warning came after the UK government recommended a rise of just 2.8 per cent for next year.
In its evidence to the PRB, the government also said much-needed changes to the Agenda for Change pay scales would also need to be funded out of the money allocated for that increase.
Reform of the structure is needed to provide equity of access to childcare vouchers and salary sacrifice schemes without breaching the national minimum wage for support workers, and to areas such as the band 6/7 transition, which does not incentivise transition into leadership positions.
The CSP assistant director for employment relations, Jim Fahie, said the PRB must now demonstrate the purpose of its role.
'When we meet them next month, we will urge the PRB to act independently and recognise the strong evidence the CSP and other unions have submitted in support of an above-inflation increase to narrow the pay loss gap arising from the years of austerity,' he said.
It is essential that any funding of structural reform to NHS pay and grading does not come out of the same pot as a cost-of-living award, thereby eroding its value and resulting in a real-terms pay cut.
'With NHS staffing and services in crisis and the challenges of rebuilding the NHS ahead, now is the time for the government to get behind NHS staff, not leave them demoralised and undervalued.'
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