Warning of knock-on effect after health workers’ strikes – plus the walkouts planned today
Two days of strikes by nurses and paramedics will have a knock-on effect on appointments with a return to “very high numbers” of emergency calls in the coming days, NHS Providers has warned.
Historic strike action saw thousands of nurses picket on Tuesday and ambulance staff stage their biggest strike in 30 years yesterday.
Saffron Cordery, interim chief executive of NHS Providers, told Sky News that coming days would be a “challenging time”.
The NHS is ‘haemorrhaging staff’
Talking about structural issues impacting the NHS , she said: “Staff on the front line are significantly overstretched and we need to see a real growth in the number of staff across the whole of the NHS. What we’ve got to see now is the government come to the table and have a serious discussion and negotiation about pay because this dispute is about pay and it’s also about working conditions and keeping patients safe…
Highlighting the record high of NHS vacancies, with around 130,000 posts unfilled, she said: “We know that we are haemorrhaging staff because of pay and working conditions, particularly in more junior bands of NHS staff. So, we really have to do something about that.
“And it’s not just about the NHS. The government knows we need to do something about social care as well because social care is really on its knees and it needs a boost. And if if social care has boost and the NHS frontline staff have the terms and conditions they need, then we will see an effective NHS.”
The number of people calling 999 appeared to drop in some parts of England yesterday and the membership organisation for NHS hospital, mental health, community and ambulance services said there had been “varying levels of disruption” across the country.
It said some demand had shifted to other services or not materialised as expected.
But the organisation said demand for care across the whole healthcare system remained high and trust leaders were reporting ongoing delays to ambulance services and overcrowding at some accident and emergency departments.
Nurses, ambulance staff, railway and postal workers have now returned to work, however, there are more strikes taking place today – with highway workers and driving test examiners among those downing tools.
The military steps in
NHS England said at least 11,509 staff were absent from work across England during strikes by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) on Tuesday and 13,797 appointments and procedures had to be rescheduled.
Members of the military stepped in to take the place of ambulance workers yesterday, with trusts telling patients to only call 999 in the case of a life-threatening injury.
The next ambulance strike is due to take place on 28 December.
Read more:
Strikes every day before Christmas – which sectors are affected and why
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Armed forces cover for ambulance staff
Government could fast-track NHS pay rise
Meanwhile, reports said the government could fast-track an NHS pay rise next year.
The Daily Telegraph reported that Health Secretary Steve Barclay is poised to offer an expedited pay deal after unions and ministers remained mired in a stalemate over pay conditions.
The paper said a source close to Mr Barclay, who has been criticised by unions for suggesting striking health workers had “made a conscious choice to inflict harm on patients”, revealed he is keen to “speed up the process” of giving NHS staff a pay rise early next year.
Unions have said they expect NHS workers to be offered a 2% increase next year based on a letter Mr Barclay sent last month to the NHS Pay Review Body.
Wales strike action ‘upsetting to all’
Doctors in Wales are considering taking strike action for the first time, the British Medical Association Cymru has said.
Almost two-thirds of hospital doctors surveyed by the union said they would be willing to take some form of industrial action over pay and conditions.
Iona Collins, the BMA’s Welsh Council chairwoman, called the survey “upsetting to all” and said it is “gut-wrenching for doctors to consider walking away from work”.
She added: “Without action now, patients will continue to suffer as a direct consequence of an under-funded NHS with insufficient direct clinical care.”
In October, the BMA announced that a ballot for industrial action by junior doctors in England will open on 9 January.
Just under 1,000 doctors in Wales responded to the survey seeking views on a 4.5% pay award from the Welsh government – with 78% of those who answered saying they want a pay rise matching or exceeding inflation.
Dr Collins said: “Doctors have been quietly quitting the NHS for years, by reducing their contracted hours or leaving altogether. The financial incentive to remain in the NHS has eroded over the last decade.”
Who’s striking today?
National Highways workers will begin a walkout in London and the south east of England, which will last until Christmas Day.
This will affect officers who work in the aftermath of accidents as well as call centre staff. National Highways have said no roads will be closed as a result of the strike.
Workers for the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) in the north west of England, Yorkshire and Humber and North Wales will stop work.
Driving test examiners will also be striking, affecting driving test centres in north west England and Yorkshire and the Humber. Theory tests will not be affected.
Rural Payments Agency (RPA) staff will continue their walkout and Unison workers at the Environment Agency will refuse to provide on-call cover for unexpected incidents.
Unite members working for Highlands and Islands Airports will also be striking.
Liverpool have won the Premier League title after a 5-1 victory over Tottenham at Anfield.
Arne Slot’s men did it in impressive style, turning over Spurs in a convincing win.
It was a rocky start for the Reds after Dominic Solanke put the north London side ahead.
However, fortunes quickly changed in the first half as Liverpool scored three times without a response.
Captain Virgil van Dijk (centre) celebrates. Pic: Reuters
Salah on his knees in celebration after the final whistle. Pic: AP
Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott (below) and Jarell Quansah celebrate after full-time. Pic: PA
Slot cheers after the full-time whistle. Pic: AP
In the second half, it took until the 63rd minute for Mohamed Salah to make it 4-1 before a fifth followed.
The Reds have won the title in manager Arne Slot’s first season in charge, and move level with fierce rivals Manchester United on 20 league championships.
But it makes them arguably the most successful English club ever as they have won more European Cup or Champions League titles.
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk told Sky Sports after the final whistle: “It’s special and it’s something that we don’t take for granted. It’s amazing.
“A lot of emotions before the game, during the whole week, but we got the job done and we (are) truly deserved champions of England. (Liverpool is) the most beautiful club in the world and I think we deserve all of this. Let’s enjoy the next couple of weeks and let it sink in.”
Liverpool’s Kostas Tsimikas poses with a Premier League trophy cut out. Pic: Reuters
Manager Arne Slot and his team after the final whistle. Pic: AP
Slot took over last summer from Jurgen Klopp, who guided them to their previous and maiden Premier League title triumph in 2020, when the COVID-19 lockdown saw matches played behind closed doors.
He is the first Dutch manager to win the Premier League and the fifth man to do so in a debut campaign after Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Manuel Pellegrini, and Antonio Conte.
Speaking to Sky Sports he said: “They [the players] did an outstanding job today. The main job was to win. Everyone said we had got it already. But we had to make sure and we got over the line.”
Several players, including Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, and Mohamed Salah, played leading roles in both the 2025 and 2020 campaigns.
Van Dijk and Salah recently signed new contracts extending their careers at the club.
Mohamed Salah takes a selfie with fans after scouring the fourth Liverpool goal. Pic: AP
Fans at Anfield during the game. Pic: AP
Fans in the stands at Anfield before full-time. Pic: Reuters
Liverpool will have to wait until the final game of the season – at home to Crystal Palace on 25 May – to be presented with the Premier League trophy.
It will be the first time the club’s fans will have seen their side lift the top-flight title in person since 1990.
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Two pro-Palestinian demonstrators have thrown red powder on Tower Bridge – just moments before leading runners in the London Marathon went past.
The protesters were arrested on suspicion of causing a public nuisance and remain in custody, said the Metropolitan Police.
A video shared by Youth Demand, which is calling for a trade embargo on Israel, shows two people jumping over a barrier that separates spectators from the race course.
The pair, wearing t-shirts that say “Youth Demand: Stop Arming Israel”, are then seen standing in the middle of the road on the bridge.
Pic: LNP
They throw red powder in the air as an official marathon car goes past displaying the race time.
A motorbike with a cameraman on board continues along the route, while a second motorbike stops and one of the riders gets off and pushes the pair out of the way, just before the men’s elite runners pass.
Several police officers then jump over the barrier and detain the pair, the footage shows.
There appeared to be no impact on the marathon.
More than 56,000 participants were expected to take part in the 26.2-mile race through the capital.
Sabastian Sawe of Kenya won the men’s elite race in a time of two hours, two minutes and 27 seconds, while Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa shattered the women’s-only world record in two hours, 15 minutes and 50 seconds.
Assefa beat the previous best of two hours, 16 minutes and 16 seconds set last year in London by Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir.
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Pic: LNP
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “At around 10.38am, two protesters from Youth Demand jumped over barriers at Tower Bridge and threw red paint on to the road.
“Marathon event staff intervened to remove the protesters from the path of the men’s elite race which was able to pass unobstructed.”
The force added that they were “quickly supported by police officers who arrested the protesters on suspicion of causing a public nuisance”.
The Met said the paint “appeared to be chalk-based” and was not expected to “present a hazard to runners yet to pass this point”.
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