Newspaper headlines: 'Fears for sick' and PM's 'silence' over strike

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By BBC News
Staff

The Telegraph reports NHS workers are set to be offered a fast-tracked pay deal next year in a government bid to "break the deadlock with health unions". It says sources close to the Health Secretary Steve Barclay said he wants to "speed up the process" of giving NHS staff, who he recognised were "feeling the pinch" a pay rise. The paper says ministers and unions remained at "loggerheads" on Wednesday night.

The Daily Express reports on emergency calls plummeting on Wednesday amid "fears sick are suffering at home".

"Hospitals braced for surge" headlines the Times. It quotes NHS leaders saying they are worried "unseen demand and unseen risk" would mean a "really challenging" few days ahead and the government should not feel it had "got away with this".

The Guardian warns the decision by people not to request help during the ambulance strike will leave the "NHS struggling to cope at a time when hospitals would traditionally be scaling back their services for the festive break". One hospital boss told the paper: "After the strike ends, we’ll have [ambulance] crews picking up the people who’ve been at home on the floor for a long time, plus the people who didn’t try to come in on Wednesday because they knew about the strike."

The Mirror says the government is "crippling the NHS". The paper carries the claim from health unions that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the health secretary are refusing to discuss pay. It quotes union Unite who said the government could have ended the strikes but "chose not to". Mr Barclay has accused NHS unions of making a "conscious decision" to "inflict harm" on patients.

The prime minister features on a mock-up of a missing poster on the front of the Daily Star. The Daily Star writes: "As the whole country goes on strike and our NHS crumbles before our very eyes, we seem to have lost our prime minister."

The Metro reports striking ambulance staff were applauded by colleagues as they left the picket lines to go to 999 emergencies. More than 10,000 staff walked out as part of industrial action by three unions in England and Wales. But the unions had agreed staff would still respond to life-threatening category one calls and some category two incidents. The paper observes workers "were almost as busy as usual" in some areas.

"NHS turmoil to last days with bigger strikes in New Year" headlines the i as it warns against larger ambulance strikes in January.

"It's a petrol rip-off" headlines the Daily Mail as it writes drivers face their costliest Christmas getaway ever with increased fuel costs. It says motoring experts blame retailers for "heartless overcharging" by failing to pass on big falls in wholesale prices. The paper writes a full tank of petrol at the pump now costs £84 - up £4 in a year.

The Financial Times leads with US tech giants "ditching" leased offices in London. The paper says the parent companies of Google and Facebook are among US groups seeking to "abandon" leased office space in London and Dublin. It comes amid the companies responding to a downturn in tech stocks. The pullback is a new setback for landlords already "facing their biggest challenge since the 2008 financial crisis", the FT observes.

The Sun says BBC police drama Line of Duty is returning to our screens. The BBC declined to comment on the Sun's claim.

The fallout from two consecutive days of NHS strike action preoccupies the front pages. The Daily Mirror accuses the government of "crippling" the health service by responding to demands for pay negotiations with a "deadly silence." Under photos of a smiling Rishi Sunak and the Health Secretary Steve Barclay the paper accuses ministers of prolonging the walkouts by refusing to "talk pay" with ambulance crews and nurses.

There is also a picture of Mr Sunak on the front of the Daily Star under the headline "missing." "As the whole country goes on strike and our NHS crumbles before our very eyes, we seem to have lost our prime minister," it says. It asks anyone who spots Mr Sunak to tell him that now would be a good time to "pull his finger out and fix things".

The Guardian's political editor Pippa Crerar says it seems Mr Sunak is trying to use the strikes as an opportunity to prove his detractors wrong by facing down the unions to show he is not weak. But she writes with more than 1.5 million workers balloting for strike action this winter, it is proving to be a "risky strategy".

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Fears that thousands of people are unwell and struggling at home after giving up on calling an ambulance on Wednesday are reported in the Daily Express. It says those who have delayed seeking treatment could "overwhelm" the health service in the coming days. The Times agrees that hospitals are "braced" for an "extremely tough" festive season, as demand rebounds after the strikes. According to the paper, a number of hospital trusts in London suspended their home birth services during this week's walkout. Pregnant women are being warned that in the event of complications, there is no guarantee a paramedic will arrive in time, even now the strike has ended.

There is a suggestion in the Daily Telegraph that striking NHS workers will be offered a "fast-tracked" pay deal next year in an effort to break the deadlock. Sources close to the health secretary have told the paper he is keen to "speed up the process" of giving NHS staff a pay rise. Workers typically have to wait until August to receive a backdated increase. But the paper says Mr Barclay wants more money added to pay packets "at the earliest opportunity".

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Like several other papers, the Daily Mail has a front page picture of Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky meeting US President Joe Biden at the White House. The caption describes him as "the man of the year." The Times says Washington "rolled out the red carpet" for Mr Zelensky, giving him a "hero's welcome". For the Telegraph, it was the Ukrainian president's "Churchill moment" - his speech to Congress echoing the wartime leader's Christmas address in 1941.

Finally, the Times describes new research suggesting people who struggle to meet NHS guidelines on daily exercise look to a Monty Python sketch for inspiration. Scientists from Arizona State University found that channelling John Cleese in the Ministry of Silly Walks counts as "vigorous physical activity". Participants in the study who copied his walk for 11 minutes a day enjoyed clear health benefits, and burned an extra 100 calories.