In response to planned strikes by nurses and ambulance staff on 6 February, NHS Providers interim chief executive Saffron Cordery said:

"Trusts have been warning for months that coordinated strikes were a possibility if the government and unions failed to reach an early agreement on this year's pay award.

"The prospect of ambulance workers and nurses striking on the same day is a huge concern. It could be the biggest day of industrial action the NHS has ever seen.

"Nobody in the NHS wants more strikes, including staff joining picket lines. Trust leaders understand why overstretched staff have reached this point amid chronic staff shortages and ever-growing demand and pressure.

"We need ministers to get round the table with the unions urgently to deal with the key issue of pay for this financial year, otherwise there is no light at the end of the tunnel."