Just two years ago, it was the only regular fixture in all of our diaries.

Every Thursday evening, without fail, the country poured out onto the streets to applaud

the doctors and nurses who were on the front line fighting the pandemic.

It set time to make some noise for our cares.

It is thanks to that courage, that devotion, that beauty, and that love that our NHS has

been unbeatable.

But as the pandemic receded, people stopped looking.

We didn't notice the extraordinary pressure the NHS is still under, and now the cracks

are starting to show.

England's National Health Service is facing the worst workforce crisis in history.

They're overworked, they're exhausted, they're burnt out, and they could no longer stay

in their jobs.

The pressure has continued to build, so much so that nurses across the UK have voted

to strike for the first time in more than a hundred years.

Hundreds of thousands of nurses have spoken up, loud and clear today, what they've said

to government right across the UK and off is enough.

It's unprecedented, but nurses voting to strike isn't the only crisis facing the NHS right

now.

Covid backlogs, staff shortages, the winter crisis, and the impending nursing strike.

How did we get here, and will Jeremy Hunt's promise of extra funding make any difference

at all?

You're listening to stories of our times from the times and the Sunday times.

...