After three months of debilitating strikes, what have we learnt?

The NHS pay deal is hardly a triumph for Sunak: waiting lists are even longer because of his foot-dragging, writes Andrew Grice

The trade unions showed they are still in business (PA)

The proposed pay settlement for 1.2 million NHS staff, including nurses and ambulance workers, is welcome but could and should have happened in early January.

Whitehall sources tell me that Steve Barclay, the health secretary, wanted a deal then like the one that has now been announced for England: a one-off payment worth 2 per cent of salary plus a bonus of at least £1,250 for the 2022-23 financial year and a permanent 5 per cent uplift for the year beginning next month. The agreement has to be accepted by union members but their leaders, with the exception of Unite, are recommending it.

Two months ago the health secretary’s move was blocked by the Treasury, and Rishi Sunak sided with Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor. “Steve Barclay could see that we would need to make a one-off cost of living payment for the current financial year,” one insider said. “This could have happened earlier.”