Grim tidings from top NHS figure on effect strikes will have on already-creaking health system

The concerning forecast came as strike action continued to spread across the UK, and after health secretary Steve Barclay castigated NHS staff on picket lines for making “a conscious choice to inflict harm on patients”.

Meanwhile last night Pat Cullen – the Tyrone nurse who is the overall leader of the Royal College of Nurses (RCN) – said her members “do not want to go on strike”, but had been compelled by “rocketing bills, unaffordable housing and sky-high grocery prices”.

Unions have long argued they are striking not just over pay but the state of the healthcare system generally.

Further ambulance strikes were announced in England and Wales today.

Saffron Cordery, CEO of NHS Providers, an organisation representing UK health trusts, said today: “Trust leaders are expecting this Christmas to be one of their darkest to date.

"As they work hard to mitigate the impact of ongoing strike action, they are also having to contend with an incredibly long list of other serious challenges.”

She warned the flu season is looking “far more severe compared to recent years before the pandemic”.

Of delays in patients being transferred from ambulances to A&E teams, she said: “With ambulance handover delays having increased by a third in the last week, trust leaders are extremely worried as strike action threatens to aggravate an already deeply challenging situation.

“We urge the Government to talk to unions about pay as soon as possible.”

Ms Cordery said there are over 130,000 vacancies in the NHS and “we are haemorrhaging staff because of pay and working conditions, particularly in more junior bands”.

She said the social care system is also “on its knees”, making it harder for hospitals to discharge patients back into the community.

Health secretary Mr Barclay is considering fast-tracking an NHS pay rise next year in a bid to resolve the dispute but has so far ruled out any movement on current wages.

On Thursday he tweeted to say his “door is always open to talk to trade unions about concerns around working conditions”.

Allies of the health secretary revealed he is keen to “speed up the process” to give NHS staff a pay rise early next year to break the deadlock.

A day earlier Mr Barclay had courted the ire of strikers by saying: “We now know that the NHS contingency plans will not cover all 999 calls. Ambulance unions have made a conscious choice to inflict harm on patients.”

Tonight Ms Cullen, head of the RCN, said this: “The public is clear – as am I – that the way to avoid further strike action is for the government to stop prevaricating and repeating the same tired lines and step up to holding meaningful negotiations.

"Just yesterday we announced that our members in Scotland have overwhelmingly rejected the latest revised pay offer.

“Make no mistake – our members in Scotland, like those in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, do not want to go on strike. But years of being undervalued and understaffed have left them feeling they have no alternative.

"Members can be reassured that planning for strike action will be thorough.

"We have worked hard to prepare for the two days of action we have just seen…While any strike action should disruptive, we will make sure it does not put patients or our members at risk.

Nurses belonging to the RCN walked out on December 15 and again on December 20, with the possibility of more to come.

The RCN is demanding a 19% pay rise for nurses – something the government says it cannot afford.

Meanwhile, Royal Mail workers belonging to the Communication Workers’ Union will be striking today and on Christmas Eve.

Their union has been offered a 9% rise, but wants more.

The Bank of England says at present the inflation rate is 10.2%.

Although nurses and postmen have grabbed much of the headlines in recent days, other workers – including Border Force staff and baggage handlers – are also running a series of rolling walk-outs.