Two-thirds of NHS trusts struggle to fill vacancies

Tens of thousands of NHS nursing and doctor posts are vacant, and more than two-thirds of trusts and health boards in the UK are actively trying to recruit from abroad, it has been revealed.

An investigation by the BBC through Freedom of Information requests shows that, on 1 December 2015, the NHS in England, Wales and Northern Ireland had more than 23,443 nursing vacancies – equivalent to 9% of the workforce.

The BBC also discovered that, of 106 NHS trusts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, there had been a 50% increase in nursing vacancies between 2013 and 2015 – from 12,513 to 18,714.

The number of vacancies for doctors had increased by around 60%, to 4,669, and there were vacancies for around 11% of the total needed for consultants in emergency medicine. Emergency department nurses were in similarly short supply – again around 11% of the total. 

This means many hospitals have looked to bring in agency workers and recruit from abroad to make up the shortfall in staff. Some are travelling from as far afield as India and the Philippines.

Ian Cummings, the chief executive Health Education England, told the BBC that the nursing shortage in the NHS had been partly caused by “quality failings” – such as scandal surrounding Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust, where hundreds of patients died due to failings in care.

The Royal College of Nursing and the British Medical Association blamed poor workforce planning for the problems hospitals are having in finding qualified staff.

Janet Davies, chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing, said: “Nursing posts are often the first target when savings need to be made, leading the NHS to find itself dangerously short and having to spend more on agency staff and recruitment from other countries.”

Responding to these claims, the Department of Health said: “Staffing is a priority — that’s why there are already over 29,600 extra clinical staff, including more than 10,600 additional doctors and more than 10,600 additional nurses on our wards since May 2010.”

But the statement also acknowledged that “much more needs to be done”, and said the government was “changing student nursing, midwifery and allied health professionals funding to create up to 10,000 more training places by the end of this Parliament.”