This story was first published in digitalhealth.net
Thousands of NHS posts unfilled, BBC reports
According to statistics obtained by the BBC, over two-thirds of trusts and health boards in the UK are struggling with the shortage of qualified staff, and are actively trying to recruit from abroad to stem the problem.
The information was revealed from a BBC Freedom of Information (FoI) request, which showed that on 1 December 2015, the NHS in England, Wales and Northern Ireland had more than 23,443 nursing vacancies - equivalent to nine per cent of the workforce.
This figure is much lower than the average vacancy rate across the UK, which was calculated by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) at 2.7 per cent.
The FoI data also found that: between 2013 and 2015, there has been a 50 per cent increase in nursing vacancies, from 12,513 to 18,714; for doctors, the number of vacancies went from 2,907 to 4,669 - an increase of roughly 60 per cent; in England and Wales, there were 1,265 vacancies for registered nurses in emergency departments - about 11 per cent of the total; for consultants in emergency medicine there were 243 vacancies - again 11 per cent of the total; and paediatric consultants - specialists in the care of babies, children and young people - were also hard to recruit, with 221 vacancies - about seven per cent of the total.
A solution which is currently being adopted by many trusts is the practice of employing doctors and nurses from overseas. Statistics from the FoI request suggested that in England and Wales 74 per cent of all NHS trusts and health boards are seeking staff from abroad.
Commenting on the staff shortages, 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.
"The modest increases made in training places are not nearly enough to tackle current problems or the significant challenges facing the NHS over the coming decade."
In a statement, the Department of Health (DoH) in England argued: "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."
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