The National Health Service -NHS in England is set to get more than 300,000 staff under a new plan announced by the government to deal with a chronic shortage of doctors and nurses.
Reports say that the publicly-funded NHS, which marked its 75th birthday on Wednesday, is facing an estimated workforce shortfall of 360,000 by 2037 due to an ageing population, a lack of domestically trained health workers and difficulties retaining existing staff.
The government’s long-term workforce plan would include reducing the time doctors spend in medical school and training more homegrown staff. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on the 75th anniversary of the health service that the government is making the largest single expansion in NHS education and training in its history.
According to reports, NHS England currently has 112,000 vacancies as it struggles to fill the large number of workers leaving the service.