Pressure on ministers to avert NHS strikes ahead of ‘very challenging’ week

NHS Providers boss says nurses' strike had significant impact' as senior Tories urge government to negotiate

• Rail and road passengers facing disruption as strikes get under way - business live

Planned strikes next week will be very challenging" for the health service, hospital bosses have warned, after they conceded that Thursday's nurses strikes had had a significant impact".

The comments from NHS Providers came amid mounting pressure on the government from senior backbenchers and usually supportive newspapers to try to resolve the dispute.