NHS England chief Amanda Pritchard says strike disruption will get worse

Patients are "paying the price" for the failure to stop strikes in the health service, the head of NHS England has said.

Amanda Pritchard said industrial action had caused "significant" disruption, and would get worse in the next round of strikes later this month.

"All sides" had failed to prevent the strikes, she said.

Junior doctors and consultants will take part in a combined seven days of strike action in July.

Ms Pritchard said the consultant strike will bring a "different level of challenge", because of a lack of cover.

Speaking to the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show, Ms Pritchard said that patients were paying the price for "all sides" failing to reach a resolution on strike action, which has plagued the health service throughout this year.

"There has been a significant amount of disruption, and that is only, at the moment, going to get more significant as we hit the next round of strikes," she said, referring to the industrial action in July.

Last month, junior doctors voted for five days of strikes in mid-July - the longest strike yet.

Ms Pritchard said consultants' work cannot be covered "in the same way" as junior doctors.

She also called for the industrial action to be brought to an end as soon as possible, saying it cannot become "business as usual in the NHS".