Why ministers are in the mood to talk to striking nurses

Goodwill has emerged in the NHS pay dispute that threatens a 48-hour walkout, says Sean O’Grady

The next strike by nurses is on hold pending talks (PA)

The Royal College of Nursing and the National Education Union have suspended their respective strike actions and entered into fresh talks with ministers. After weeks of disputes, there is a more conciliatory mood in the air. Some are even hoping that this could be a turning point in the wave of strikes that have hit public services in recent weeks.

Why have the nurses paused their strike action?

They have been offered more talks with the health secretary, Steve Barclay, and presumably feel it is a worthwhile opportunity. The 48-hour strike on 1 March would be extremely damaging to patient care and NHS trusts. The RCN would also have been conscious of the risks, despite strong public support. Even if there wasn’t some high-profile incident during the walkout, the accumulated strikes have added to waiting lists and the post-Covid backlog. Continuing action by paramedics and now junior doctors threatened the NHS with a crisis perhaps unprecedented in its history, aside from the peak of the pandemic.