Britain's state-run National Health Service is facing its worst staffing crisis with thousands of vacancies and no credible strategy to address the problem, according to a July 25 report from Reuters.
According to NHS data, there were more than 105,000 vacancies in March, up from 76,000 the previous year. The report said the NHS in England could be short of 12,000 hospital doctors and more than 50,000 nurses and midwives and that 475,000 jobs could be needed in the next decade.
Jeremy Hunt, chair of parliament's cross-party Health and Social Care Committee and former health minister, said this is the most significant workforce crisis in the history of the NHS.
"Persistent understaffing in the NHS poses a serious risk to staff and patient safety, a situation compounded by the absence of a long term plan by the government to tackle it," Mr. Hunt said.
The NHS has provided free healthcare at the point of use since 1948 and currently has 6.5 million patients on waiting lists for treatment.