Consultants in England are taking life or death decisions in an NHS that is falling apart. This can’t carry on

‘I am striking because I believe that the work I do is not worth 35% less than it was in 2008.’ NHS consultants picket outside University College hospital, London, in August. Photograph: Vuk Valcic/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

I’ve been an intensive care consultant for 20 years and have worked in the NHS for 30. I am there for my patients in their most vulnerable moments and am responsible for life and death decisions daily. The stakes are high, and the stress is unrelenting.

Every day I see my consultant colleagues having to innovate under increasing pressure from lack of investment, putting in extraordinary efforts to keep delivering the service they know their patients need. So why now have consultants in England been compelled to go on strike?