This morning Laura Kuenssberg mainly focused on the issues at the NHS with the head of NHS England, Amanda Pritchard and Health Secretary Steve Barclay.

Pritchard said that there has been big progress on the waiting times at NHS hospitals.

When asked about the strikes, Pritchard blamed both sides, saying "The hard truth is - it is patients that are paying the price for the fact that all sides have failed to reach a resolution."

Barclay said that they are doing the biggest investment ever in the NHS with an extra £2.4bn coming from the Treasury for workforce expansion.

This is extra money that scales up each year as more doctors come into the workforce.

When it comes to strikes, Barclay said the government "stands ready" to have discussions about pay progression for consultants.

We also brought you the discussions on Labour's reform package on education with the shadow education secretary Bridget Phillips; who said that 14,000 teachers are currently not fully qualified.

To prevent qualified teachers leaving the profession she said: "The best recruitment strategy is about having a great retention strategy".

Thank you for joining us.

Both senior consultants and junior doctors working in the NHS, as well as some radiographers, have announced strike action this month.

Happening between 13-18 July, it’s the longest period of consecutive industrial action announced so far.

Junior doctors are asking for a 35% pay rise - the government has offered a 5% raise - which the BMA has said isn’t “credible”.

Some 86% of British Medical Association members backed walkouts over what the union described as repeated pay cuts.

Speaking to Laura Kuenssberg earlier, Health Secretary Steve Barclay said their pay demands had to be considered "in the round".

"We need to take a balanced approach to pay negotiations," he said, stressing that the largest health union in the NHS has reached a deal.

He said the government and the NHS were working together to resolve the issue of ongoing strike action, but said they couldn’t meet the 35% demand from junior doctors “given our need to bring inflation down.”

Before that, NHS England chief Amanda Pritchard said the strikes coming this month are the most serious we have seen yet.

"The hard truth is, it is patients that are paying the price, for the fact that all sides have not yet managed to reach a resolution”, she added.

Laura Kuenssberg
Presenter, Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg

There is no hiding the fact that millions of people are having to wait for NHS care that they need.

Amanda Pritchard, the boss of NHS England, didn’t deny that lots of people are not getting treatment that they require right now.

And she acknowledged that it would be several years before the situation returned to anything like good enough. No surprise that Pritchard wanted to emphasise the work that the service is doing to try to improve the situation, and bring waiting lists down.

But she made no secret too of matters being made worse by continuing industrial action in the NHS, with consultants soon to join junior doctors in walking out. She said that “patients were paying the price” for industrial action.

More than 600, 000 appointments have already been cancelled , and the ongoing failure of the government and some of the medical unions to find agreement is only going to crank the pressure up still further.

Pritchard was also clear that the NHS is having to pick up the problems caused by other changes in modern society, like the new gambling clinics that are opening soon.

She stopped short of calling for more regulation, too diplomatic a public servant perhaps?

But she did imply that ministers should think harder about the system, and asked football clubs to think about their links with the gambling industry.

As it heads to its 75th anniversary, the NHS is having to deal with a society unimaginable at its birth.

Let’s take a look back at the programme now, and Laura asked Amanda Pritchard what is stopping UK doctos from moving to Australia to earn more money?

The chief executive of NHS England talked about benefits set out in the PM's long-term plan and said that retention should occur as a result of more training, and having a clear career path.

When asked about pay rises, she said her job “is to make sure we are doing are best to support the NHS”, and that pay is a matter for unions and government.

Thanks for joining us for our coverage of this week's programme.

The show may be over, but we're not going anywhere.

Stay with us for all the reaction and analysis.

Kuenssberg goes back to the panel before closing, and Lord Bethell says he was worried about Pritchard's way to describe the NHS that it was scapegoated and not coping with the workload. "The gap between the resources in the NHS is just huge," he says.

Dr Mosley says that if framework changes it changes how people behave, and gives an example: When he was a medical student half of the population was smoking and now it's down to “18, 19 percent”.

Beeban Kidron reminds the panel how astronaut Christian Koch said that she was bringing every dream together to be successful. "I didn't hear anything like that from anybody in power about teachers and NHS staff. We need to think bigger."

Barclay is asked about strikes in the NHS.

"We need to take a balanced approach," he says.

Agreement has been reached with some quarters of NHS staff over pay, he stresses, saying he is "very pleased" about that resolution.

On how patients will be affected in industrial action, Barclay says: "We are working closely on how we mitigate the impact of industrial action."

Urged on what the government is doing to address the concerns of consultants - who are due to strike this month - he insists, "we are responding to consultants... we have addressed pensions.

He says the government "stands ready" to have discussions about pay progression for consultants.

The 35% demand by junior doctors is "not affordable", he reiterates, not for the first time.

So what is the solution? asks Laura.

He highlights doctors' concerns about pension tax reforms have been addressed, and the biggest health union has reached a deal - 5% and a lump sum.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay is on now and says that the Conservatives prioritise the expansion of the NHS staff, and they are committed to "the biggest workforce expansion" which will be paid for by the "biggest ever investment in the NHS".

Kuenssberg asks if the extra 2.4 billion is coming from the Treasury to the Department of Health in the next budget, Barclay answers "Yes".

"It is an additional money from the Treasury to invest in the workforce, and it scales up so it doesn't all come in year one."

Koch talks about the next mission to the Moon and then to Mars: “All eyes are on Mars,” she says.

“Our mission will be - as planned for the end of next year - we will be going around the far side of the Moon with humans on the Orion vehicle for the first time ever.

"Then the next mission we hope to actually land on the Moon with the human landing system.”

Koch says that they will stay there for a while and carry the lessons they learn from the Moon to Mars. And that is scheduled for the late 2030s.

When asked if she would like to be the first person on Mars, she replies: “Of course!”“Doing a spacewalk is a supreme honour, nothing that you can describe. Looking down, seeing your boots against the backdrop of slightly lit earth,” she tells Laura.

Christina Koch is on the show now, talking about the human side of being on a spacecraft.

“One thing we pick out is the hairbrush we are going to want in space. We make sure that all of the things we need to be comfortable with, living and working in a high-demand environment, we have access to,” she says.

Koch has spent 328 days in total in space. When Kuenssberg asks what that was like and if she ever got a tiny bit bored, Koch says,“I definitely never got bored."

But she realises, after more than 300 days in space, what means the most to her is “something handwritten - something that was in the hands of a loved one - reaching her in space in one of the supply vehicles.”

She says it’s way better than her favourite chocolate bar.

Bridget Phillipson says "14,000 teachers working across our schools who are not fully qualified," and adds that she doesn't want to see teachers leaving. "We can't accommodate any professional teachers leaving."

And about the new teachers, Phillipson says "The expectation is they will be required to be working with qualified teachers."

Phillipson says she "would rather strike action is not happening" next week - but it could be averted if the education secretary gave more transparency around mooted figures for pay.

She tells Laura there have been "no proper discussions since April".

"We need proper and serious negotiations on pay" as well as the wider issues: "That isn't happening."

"That is an irresponsible and reckless approach" by the government, she says

On to Bridget Phillipson now, who says Labour wants to bring in payments to encourage teachers to stay in the classroom.

Labour's latest education mission is about "breaking down the barriers that exist".

"Background should not limit to you getting on," says Phillipson. "We need excellent teachers in every classroom."

All teachers should be qualified, she says, that isn't the case at the moment - 14,000 are currently not fully qualified.

"The best recruitment strategy is about having a great retention strategy", she adds.

Kuenssberg is back with the panel again with more questions on the NHS.

Dr Mosley says that he recently had a reunion with his colleagues who are in their late 50's and thinking about retirement. "Primarily driving them out is fear of being sued," he says and adds: "Loads of friends and family went to Australia and the US and never came back."

Lord Bethell believes the service NHS delivery is high standard, "it just doesn't deliver to everyone," he adds.

He says "It breaks my heart to be talking about gambling clinics and spending money when there is someone waiting for a kidney operation. That makes no sense."

Beeban Kidron says that protecting the kids should be prioritised and even Artificial Intelligence harms should be treated as harms. "The lack of provision on mental health services on children. That is a now problem not a 'in 15 years problem" she says.

Pritchard says strikes are causing "significant disruption", and it will get worse.

"The hard truth is - it is patients that are paying the price for the fact that all sides have failed to reach a resolution," she says.

The next round of planned strikes will hit seven days of NHS care in July, she says.

Consultants going on strike is a "different level of challenge" than strikes up to now involving junior doctors, she adds.

“Society has changed, gambling is 24/7”, says Pritchard - in response to Laura's question about gambling addiction and the burden on the NHS.

There has been a huge rise in demand for help for people with severe addiction to gambling. Seven more clinics are in being opened to treat the issue.

Pritchard says she would like to see more action from the gambling industry itself, as well as changes in sponsorship - with organisations like football clubs thinking again about the symbiotic relationship between themselves and the industry - and the message that sends, particularly to younger people.

We have to make sure patient safety is mitigated during strike action, says Pritchard.

So far the commitment - from both unions and the NHS - has been to prioritise patient safety.

Those who need emergency care should still come forward during industrial action, but those needing more minor attention can use pharmacies and other back-up services, such as 111.

We need to see an end to industrial action, as soon as possible, she adds.

"We can't let [strikes] become business as usual in the NHS."

Kuenssberg asks if Pritchard thinks doctors and nurses are worth more than they are paid.

Pritchard says that pay is not her job:

"I want to make sure our staff are appropriately recognised. Pay is a matter for unions and government."

She says that they are doing their best to support the NHS, but "Unfortunately there has been a significant amount of distraction and patients are paying the price."

Laura asks What should people do when faced with a long waiting time?

Pritchard answers that "big progress" has been made on waiting times and, the focus remains on the most urgent patients - using AI and diagnostics – and using innovation to speed up recovery "as quickly as we can".

Amanda Pritchard says it has been a momentous week for the NHS.

Referring to the care people have received over the past few years and the experience of the pandemic, plus ongoing strike action, she says it is an "unprecedented" period of challenge.

No one wants to wait any longer than they have to, but the NHS is focused on recovering services, she tells Laura.

"Everyone in the NHS shares the same desire, to treat people as quickly as possible, without delay," she says.

We are all patients, even NHS staff, she cautions.

"We need to recognise the journey post pandemic.. we are only midway through.

"Recovery takes time. This isn't an overnight fix", she adds.