As the 14th round of industrial action by doctors in their current pay dispute draws to a close, just in time for a Christmas truce, a version of the famous words of John Lennon comes to mind: “Another strike over, and what have you done?” For the health secretary, Wes Streeting, it’s an awkward question. He can certainly point to more funding for the NHS, which is something tangible that the voters who elected them to “fix the NHS” will benefit from. He has overseen a reduction in waiting lists, although some say the achievement has been exaggerated. Also, the figure of 5 million extra appointments across the NHS has not been seriously challenged. Yet the strikes drag on, and sap confidence in the NHS and in Labour’s capacity to reform it.
Polling suggests that public satisfaction has not yet started to improve appreciably, but the state of the NHS has sharply declined in the list of their greatest concerns – reflecting some faith that Mr Streeting will indeed fix what he’s called a “broken” NHS. Thus far, the winter “flunami” hasn’t pushed the NHS into collapse, and neither has the latest strike by the resident, formerly junior, doctors. That, though, may be more a matter of luck and the ability of NHS trusts to manage their workloads ever more efficiently.
