Sunak won’t meet NHS waiting times pledge if strikes continue, warn health bosses

Junior doctor leaders have threatened to keep up industrial action until spring unless they receive a ‘credible pay offer’

Rishi Sunak’s pledge to cut NHS waiting times will be impossible to meet if strikes are still disrupting care beyond the summer, health service chiefs have privately warned ministers.

The prime minister promised in January that “NHS waiting lists will fall” when he outlined five pledges, reflecting “the people’s priorities”, by which voters should judge his performance, he said.