English language tests will be made easier for foreign nurses to beat staff shortages in NHS

The shortage of NHS staff in England is continuing to worsen, official figures show.   

Figures published by the regulator, NHS Improvement, for the April to June period showed that 11.8% of nurse posts were not filled – a shortage of nearly 42,000.

According to Health Education England, around 33,000 of these positions are filled temporarily by agency staff – an unwelcome extra expense for local NHS trusts.

As well as this, 9.3% of doctor posts were vacant – a shortage of 11,500.

Overall, 9.2% of all posts were not filled – a shortage of nearly 108,000.   

A report by three leading health sector think-tanks estimates that if demand rises as predicted, the NHS will need 250,000 additional staff by 2030.

But if skilled workers cannot be attracted from abroad the shortage could reach 350,000 – roughly a quarter of the 1.2million workforce.

The report says a ten-year long-term plan for the NHS, which is due out next month, must include a funded, credible strategy to tackle the problem.

Experts say low pay and long hours are two of the main factors which make finding nursing staff difficult. This, paired with student debt, makes the profession unappealing for young people. 

Of those quitting, more than half are under 40, with many citing stress and rising workloads for being behind their decision to leave.