The last thing the Sunak administration needs is a month of NHS discontent

Editorial: The health secretary Victoria Atkins needs to take the initiative with the BMA and start to win the arguments, before the health of the government deteriorates further

Every medic who takes part in what is to be the longest strike of its kind in the history of the NHS will be troubled by the consequences for patients (Getty)

More than any other industrial dispute, the strike by junior doctors carries with it a heavy moral burden.

There can be no doubt that every medic who takes part in what is to be the longest strike of its kind in the history of the NHS will be troubled by the consequences for patients. After all, the majority took a solemn oath to protect those they care for on entering the profession.

This is, then, no ordinary strike. With the best will in the world, and with agreements in place with the hospital trusts to preserve life and limb in extremis, there will still plainly be a detriment to patients with painful and distressing conditions – postponed operations and delays to see a qualified physician in A&E, for example.