With nurses and ambulance service unions both threatening strikes in the coming days, people are understandably worried.
As Health and Social Care Secretary, my priority must be keeping patients safe.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay
That starts with doing my utmost to talk union leaders out of strikes. I want to meet them as a matter of urgency.
After all, in a winter when we’re worrying about Covid, flu and Strep A – on top of the Covid backlogs – I am deeply concerned about the risks of strike action to patients.
At the same time, I am working with the NHS and others to minimise the disruption to patients if strikes do go ahead.
That means drawing on extra support from a range of places, including service personnel and the private sector.
We are working hard to make sure patients experience as little disruption as possible, but with the NHS already under pressure due to the covid pandemic and coming winter the risks to patients will be significant.
People will be contacted if their appointment needs to be changed, but I want to encourage people to keep coming forward for the care they need.
That also means continuing to use NHS 111 for medical help and dialling 999 in an emergency.
Labour is all over the place on strikes. They criticise ministers but admit the unions’ pay demands are unaffordable.
Keir Starmer and his MPs are too tied to their union paymasters to be on the side of patients.
I will be doing everything I can to help keep patients safe this winter. Strikes are in no one’s best interest. While I’ll keep urging the unions to think again, if the strikes go ahead, we will be ready.
