PRESS RELEASE : Record numbers of doctors and nurses working in the NHS to ease pressure over winter [January 2023]

The press release issued by the Department of Health and Social Care on 5 January 2023.

• Record numbers of doctors, nurses and staff are working in the NHS, latest data shows
• Government on track to deliver on commitment for 50,000 more nurses by 2024, with over 36,000 more nurses compared to September 2019

A record number of doctors and nurses are working in the NHS in England, delivering extra appointments, speeding up diagnoses and helping to tackle the Covid backlog to ease pressure on the NHS this winter.

There are over 1.25 million full-time equivalent staff working in NHS trusts and commissioning bodies in England – over 42,000 more people compared to a year ago, up by 3.5%.

The latest data published by NHS Digital up to October 2022 shows there are almost 4,700 more doctors and over 10,500 more nurses working in the NHS compared to October 2021.

Since 2010, there are now over 35,300 more doctors and over 47,100 more nurses working in the NHS.

Minister for Health, Will Quince, said:

Growing the workforce is one of my immediate priorities and we are making significant progress in training and recruiting a record number of staff – with over 42,000 more people working in the NHS compared to a year ago – and we are well on track to deliver on our commitment to recruit 50,000 more nurses.

Thanks to these dedicated staff we’re building a stronger, healthier NHS for the long-term and we will publish a workforce plan this year to recruit and retain more staff and make the NHS the best place to work.

The government remains on track to deliver on its commitment to recruit 50,000 more nurses by 2024, with over 36,000 more nurses in October 2022 compared with September 2019.

In the Autumn Statement the government committed to publishing a comprehensive workforce strategy this year to help recruit and retain more staff, with independently verified forecasts for the number of doctors, nurses and other professionals that will be needed in 5, 10 and 15 years’ time.