Ending the strikes won’t be enough to fix the NHS

The biggest round of NHS strikes is taking place this week, and there isn’t much hope of a resolution. This is despite, as Kate Andrews explores, a widespread acceptance that the strikes are detrimental to patient safety. There is also widespread public sympathy for striking healthcare workers, which surely suggests that a deal should come sooner rather than later to stop the government losing out even more politically. 

So what’s going on? That’s a question some Tory MPs are also asking, wondering why there isn’t any prospect of a deal given the Royal College of Nursing in particular seems to be keen to stop striking. ‘There’s an appetite for a deal,’ complains one backbencher. ‘Not sure why that hasn’t happened yet but assume it’s the Treasury.’ It’s interesting that the Treasury is being blamed, given former health secretary Jeremy Hunt is the Chancellor and has amused some non-health cabinet colleagues with his continuing interest (or ‘meddling’ as one minister puts it) in the health brief. 

Health Secretary Steve Barclay has tried to make the case to the Treasury for an exceptional case for nurses, which led to some reports of a rift between him and Hunt.