A Cabinet minister has insisted there are no “immediate plans” for the Army to step in to help the NHS during a potential winter of strikes, but conceded it is not “unusual” to “game these things out”. Health and defence officials are drawing up a contingency strategy as ambulance drivers and paramedics consider joining nurses on the picket lines in the coming months.
It had been reported that this could involve armed forces personnel stepping in to plug gaps in frontline services. But Business Secretary Grant Shapps said it was not “correct” to say the military will be brought in, other than to note the Government “always looks at contingency plans”.
“There aren’t any immediate plans to do that,” he told Sky News. “And actually the NHS has got some pretty well-versed planning in place for all manner of disruption. Of course, ideally, I’d love to see those strikes averted. I don’t think anyone wants to see strikes in our NHS. It harms everybody and is to no one’s advantage.”
