Jeremy Hunt plays down Labour data showing 100,000 vacant posts in NHS
Jeremy Hunt has attempted to play down Labour estimates which suggest the NHS has more than 100,000 vacant posts.
The Health Secretary claimed a desire for more nurses and reforms to mental health services had created vacancies, adding that a plan to develop the NHS and social care workforce has also been published.
Mr Hunt’s defence in the Commons came after Labour published data which suggested the full-time equivalent vacancy rate across England’s acute, community and mental health trusts is 9%.
Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said this is a rise from 8.4% last year.
Information obtained by Labour from 82 NHS trusts in England found that the average nurse vacancy rate was 12.2%.
After extrapolating the figures, it estimated that the health service across the country has more than 42,000 nursing vacancies.
The total of full-time equivalent vacancies for doctors was 9.3% – equating to more than 11,000 across the sector.
Speaking in the Commons, Mr Ashworth told Mr Hunt: “Our research today has revealed there are vacancies for 100,000 staff across the NHS. There is a national crisis in workforce – not my words, but the words of the Royal Surrey Hospital Trust in his own constituency.
“So with bed occupancy at Royal Surrey hitting a peak of 98.7% this winter already, and across the NHS bed occupancy already at an average of 94.5%, can he tell us how he expects the NHS to cope this winter when it’s understaffed, overstretched and underfunded?”
Mr Hunt replied: “If you decide you want more nurses following Mid Staffs, that creates vacancies.
“If you want to transform mental health provision, that creates vacancies.
“That’s why we announced a workforce plan, which I noticed the Government in Wales has not had time to do yet.
“But I would like to finish by wishing him a Merry Christmas, and if he wants to take a bit longer off and stay away for January, we’re happy to hold the fort.”
Last week, Health Education England (HEE) published a draft health and care workforce strategy that found the NHS in England will need 190,000 more clinical posts over the next 10 years to meet growing demand.
If supply continues at the rate of the last five years, 72,000 new staff are expected to join by 2027.
It found that despite an increase in staff in most disciplines since 2012, the health service was still overstretched, partly due to population growth of 2.1 million in the last five years.
The NHS is the largest workforce in the country, making up 13% of jobs, while 65% of the NHS operational budget is spent on staff.
HEE has launched a consultation to recruit and retain existing staff in a bid to increase the workforce.
A Department of Health spokeswoman said NHS Digital figures show there are “over 32,300 more professionally qualified clinical staff working in the NHS since 2010 and we are increasing training places for doctors and nurses by 25%”.
Janet Davies, chief executive and general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said: “This analysis pulls back the curtain on the state of staffing in the NHS this winter.
“Despite ministers’ rhetoric on the importance of safety, it will enter a perilous January without enough staff to give safe care.”
Copyright (c) Press Association Ltd. 2017, All Rights Reserved. Picture (c) Peter Byrne / PA Wire.
