Good news and bad news for the NHS this week. Waiting lists are falling a bit faster: May’s figures, out yesterday, show the lowest waiting list total in two years, as well as the highest number of treatments ever recorded. But yes, lists are still long, at 7.36 million, with 40% of people waiting longer than 18 weeks.

More good news today: patients are more satisfied, or less dissatisfied, with GPs: 70% satisfied with contacting the GP and 75% reported a good overall experience. The extra 1,900 GPs and the increased rollout of phone and NHS app bookings are reducing the 8am fastest-finger scramble.

The bad news is England’s resident (junior) doctors’ 90% vote to strike. The British Medical Association’s rush to strike action, with only two weeks’ notice, is hard on patients with rapid cancellations and managers preparing for the five-day chaos, with doctors out from 25 to 30 July. If any voted just to strengthen their union’s negotiating position, they find themselves called out fast. Why did 45% fail to vote at all, when turnout last time was 71%? Picket lines may be thinner but the NHS, in slow recovery, will be thrown backwards again: with 11 separate walkouts between 2022 and 2024, 1.3m healthcare appointments were lost, costing £1.5bn.

The BMA may find only a grudging solidarity from some unions. Immediately after the election, the health secretary, Wes Streeting, settled........

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