Health and care staff are "absolutely shattered" and NHS workers "won't be there when you need them" unless the crisis is resolved, a top scientist has warned.
Professor Jeremy Farrar, who became a well known face during the Covid pandemic, warned that exhausted and demoralised staff would not be ready when another a crisis hits.
The wave of strike action in the NHS shows no sign of abating as the Tory Government continues to stonewall calls from unions for decent pay rises for staff.
Thousands of ambulance workers from the GMB union are taking part in walkouts today over pay and staffing, while the BMA is expected to announce the results of its junior doctors ballot later.
Further strikes have already been announced by nurses and ambulance crews.
Prof Farrar, the director of the Wellcome Trust and soon to be chief scientist of the World Health Organization, sounded the alarm over exhaustion and low morale among health staff.
“This is a global issue, which I think is hugely concerning. It’s certainly true in this country,” he told The Guardian.
“The resilience of healthcare workers, broadly defined from ambulance drivers to nurses to doctors, to care workers in social care, etc. They’re shattered. They are absolutely shattered.”
He went on: "I think we have to address the morale, staffing, the training, everything from public health physicians to care workers, to doctors and nurses and physios and everybody in between because there’s very little spare capacity in any system globally.
"It’s particularly true in the UK. As you can see from the strikes, morale and resilience is very thin."
Prof Farrar warned that staff who have already endured the strains of the Covid pandemic might not be able to cope with another crisis unless they are given greater support.
“If you stretch people beyond their resilience they won’t be there when you need them,” he said.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay has refused to discuss the most recent NHS pay deal - the subject of the strikes - and instead wants to focus on wages for 2023/24.
Speaking ahead of today's walkouts, the top Tory said: “Strikes are in nobody’s best interests and only cause further disruption for patients, despite contingency measures in place.
“It is time unions engaged constructively with the Pay Review Body process for 2023/24 and cancelled strikes so we can move forward and continue tackling the Covid backlog.
“I’ve been clear throughout that I remain keen to keep talking to unions about what is fair and affordable for the coming financial year, as well as wider concerns around conditions and workload so we can make the NHS a better place to work.”
