The NHS is currently developing contingency plans for the Army to deal with potentially devastating events this winter.
Officials are working to activate Protocol on Military Assistance to Civilian Authorities, (MACA), in the event that key services are unable to withstand strikes.
The plans are understood to have gained more momentum after it became clear that ambulance drivers and paramedics may be considering joining nurses on picketlines in the future.
This means that soldiers might eventually have to drive ambulances and serve in hospital roles at the front lines.
Health directors fear that strikes will reach junior doctors, cleaners/porters, catering staff, and administrative workers.
A spokesperson for the government said that while hospitals will do everything possible to ensure safety patients and the public, scheduled appointments may need to be cancelled and emergency care prioritized for those who are most urgent.
According to The Times, the MoD is already investigating ways that military personnel could help the NHS, but has not requested formal assistance.
The Maca Protocol states it cannot be used if “the civil authority has no capacity to perform the task and it would not be unreasonable or too costly to expect to create one”.
It was last used during covid pandemic. It was mostly used by members of the armed force to deliver PPE and manage some mobile testing sites.
Around 90 soldiers were also recruited to drive vehicles for the Welsh Ambulance Service during the second wave.
Next month, nurses will join other railway workers and postal workers who are members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT).
Mark Harper, Transport Secretary, hinted at “positive progress” in talks with RMT. However, he warned that an increase of public sector wages in line to rising inflation was “unsustainable”.
Sky News spoke to him Sunday, saying: “I think it’s important to try to give all hardworking public sector workers decent wage increases, but not inflation-killing increases.
“There simply isn’t the money to be paid to those given the context, and we haven’t seen those in the private sector either, private sector salary increases have generally settled below the level of inflation, which I accept is difficult for people.”
Steve Barclay, Health Secretary to the Union of Nursing Workers, asked the union to “return at the negotiating table” in order to continue negotiations.
The union claims it doesn’t want to discuss wages, but rather talks about pension arrangements, holidays and availability of free coffee.
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