NHS facing worst staffing crisis in history, MPs warn

English hospitals are short of 12,000 doctors and there’s a need for at least 50,000 more nurses and midwives – and England has 700 fewer GPs than it did just three years ago.

It all amounts to a “serious risk” to patient safety, a cross-party group of MPs have warned, calling on the government to act now.

But those who work in the NHS in England, and many who use it, have been raising the alarm about chronic understaffing for years.