Nurses and ambulance staff strikes 2022: key questions answered

Up to 100,000 nurses across England, Wales and Northern Ireland are to strike for two days before Christmas in their first walkout in NHS history. The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has confirmed there will be strikes on 15 and 20 December at 76 NHS hospitals and trusts as the pay dispute raging across the health service continues to escalate. The union said it was left with no choice after the government rejected its offer of formal negotiations as an alternative to industrial action. NationalWorld’s health reporter Helen Johnson answers questions about the strikes and tells us what might happen next.