NHS heads warn pay dispute is adding to strain on hospitals

NHS physiotherapists rally outside St. Thomas’s hospital during a strike in London in January. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

Hospitals will struggle to clear treatment backlogs and improve emergency care unless the NHS pay dispute is settle soon, health service bosses have warned in advance of next week’s series of walkouts.

The “intensifying wave of industrial” action is leading to thousands of operations and outpatient appointments having to be rescheduled, putting extra strain on an already overburdened system.