The NHS faces challenges on every front. The recovery for the pandemic, and from a decade of underfunding, has been hampered by staff shortages and resurgent demand.

To make matters worse, inflation in goods, services and wages has created a £9bn hole in NHS finances, while the next 12 months could see industrial action on a scale not seen in the service since the 1970s.

The government is two years out from a general election and is obviously keen that things improve. However, the new administration has pledged to calm markets and reduce national debt. Financial security appears to be trumping the needs of the health and care sector.

HSJ editor Alastair McLellan talks to respected political analysts Mike Birtwistle and Richard Sloggett about the approach the government – including re-appointed health secretary Steve Barclay – will take to running the NHS in this period of crisis.

They identify the potential flash points – and what may happen when ambition collides with reality.

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