The impact of NHS strikes dominates the front pages of Thursday's newspapers.
The Telegraph reports NHS workers are set to be offered a fast-tracked pay deal next year in a government bid to "break the deadlock with health unions". It says sources close to the Health Secretary Steve Barclay said he wants to "speed up the process" of giving NHS staff, who he recognised were "feeling the pinch" a pay rise. The paper says ministers and unions remained at "loggerheads" on Wednesday night.
The Metro reports striking ambulance staff were applauded by colleagues as they left the picket lines to go to 999 emergencies. More than 10,000 staff walked out as part of industrial action by three unions in England and Wales. But the unions had agreed staff would still respond to life-threatening category one calls and some category two incidents. The paper observes workers "were almost as busy as usual" in some areas.
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