For the first time in its history, the Royal College of Nursing has taken strike action over pay. Next week, nurses in England will be joined on the picket line by ambulance workers and other members of the NHS workforce, and junior doctors may soon join them. We should be clear that strike action on this scale is unprecedented in the history of our National Health Service.
As a doctor myself, I would never strike, because I worry about the impact on my patients. But it is important to recognise that many NHS workers are experiencing real financial hardship owing to the ever-rising cost of living, and the failure of the government to make a sensible pay offer is not helping. So how has the government got into this mess, and what can be done about it?
