Resident doctors out on strike but are our nurses to follow?

First day back. I sometimes find that I can’t remember door codes.

- Dr Ali A Smith

Things that I normally do without having to think. They were automatic but because of the holiday have become things I need to do consciously.

Returning from a holiday makes me reassess where I'm up to and where I think that things are headed. Somehow the clearance of the minor details reveals only the major features.

I'm returning to a strike. My first visit is to the ward to see how the land lies and how staffing is working out. My first meeting is one about finance and the main theme is how we are going to cut spending and reduce the number of people we employ.

I'm disappointed that resident doctors (the ones we used to call junior doctors) are on strike. It’s not long since the last strike. But the problems they had weren't really sorted with the end of the last strike.

Their pay had been eroded over a decade and the deal had not really resolved that.