Shortfall of registered nurses

This report finds that there’s a shortage of an estimated 55,000 registered nurses needed to deliver care safely, more than double the official number of NHS vacancies, which was 23,046 in August 2026. In the last year, nurse numbers grew by just 1%, but experts say a 2.5 to 5.7% increase is needed. The report demonstrates that nurse numbers have been held down since 2009, while the number of doctors in NHS roles has grown at double the rate. It argues that, if nursing workforce investment had kept pace with that of doctors, there would be more than 77,000 additional nurses working in the NHS in England.