Labour warns of NHS 'disaster' as more than 100,000 posts are unfilled

There are estimated to be more than 11,000 unfilled doctor positions
PA Wire/PA Images
Tom Powell19 December 2017

The NHS has more than 100,000 vacant posts as hospitals are struggling to recruit staff, Labour has claimed.

The party’s analysis suggested there are currently more than 11,000 unfilled doctor positions, while there are an estimated 42,000 nursing vacancies.

The information was gathered from 82 NHS trusts in England.

Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said: "Tory mismanagement of the NHS workforce has been a disaster for staff and patients alike.”

He claimed there is an "urgent need” for a fresh plan to recruit the right numbers of staff.

"Labour's research today has shown that NHS workforce shortages in key areas are continuing to get worse year on year - ministers must take action before it's too late," he added.

Last week, Health Education England published a draft health and care workforce strategy that found the NHS in England will need 190,000 more clinical posts over the next 10 years to meet growing demand.

But if supply continues at the rate of the last five years, 72,000 new staff are expected to join the NHS by 2027.

It found that despite an increase in staff in most disciplines since 2012, the health service was still overstretched, partly due to population growth of 2.1 million in the last five years.

HEE has now launched a consultation to recruit and retain existing staff in a bid to increase the workforce.

A Department of Health spokeswoman said: "The truth is that latest NHS Digital figures show there are over 32,300 more professionally qualified clinical staff working in the NHS since 2010 and we are increasing training places for doctors and nurses by 25 per cent."

Janet Davies, chief executive and general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said: "This analysis pulls back the curtain on the state of staffing in the NHS this winter.

"Despite ministers' rhetoric on the importance of safety, it will enter a perilous January without enough staff to give safe care.

"Nurses are spread too thinly and starting to blow the whistle on falling standards.

"Hospital wards and care homes alike increasingly rely on unregistered healthcare assistants, especially at night.

"The Government must no longer allow nursing on the cheap - patients, particularly vulnerable and older individuals, can pay the highest price.

"The NHS has never been busier and yet it is haemorrhaging experienced nurses quicker than it can find new ones."

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