According to a report prepared by MPs in the UK, the staff shortage in the National Health System (NHS) has reached a level that threatens the health of patients.
Unprecedented in the history of the NHS, the shortage of doctors exceeded 12 thousand and the shortage of nurses and midwives exceeded 50 thousand.
According to the report, failure to take effective steps to close the shortage of health workers risks further prolonging waiting times due to the pandemic.
The government says it is preparing long-term plans to recruit more staff.
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Former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who chairs the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee that produced the report, says this should be one of the top priorities for the new prime minister when he takes office in September:
“The persistent shortage of staff in the NHS poses a huge risk to both health professionals and patients.
“The government’s lack of a long-term plan to tackle this problem is making it harder to address.”
1 million new jobs will be needed
According to the Committee, at this rate, 1 million new jobs in health and social care will be needed by the end of the 2030s.
In addition to the UK’s ageing population, the growth of the health sector and technological advances will require more workers.
The Committee also heard from former Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who stepped down this month.
Javid said the government was not on track to deliver on its manifesto promise of 6,000 new family doctors.
Maternity services are at risk of disruption, especially with more than 500 midwives quitting between March 2021 and March 2022.
Care services are worse
According to the report, 95 percent of care centers for the sick and elderly are struggling to find workers and 75 percent are struggling to retain their current workers.
According to the report, it will not be possible to fix this situation without improving wages.
There is concern that 17,000 care workers in the country are paid below the legal limit of £9.5 an hour.
Patricia Marquis, director of the Royal College of Nursing, says it is unacceptable that some nurses working in the health system are struggling to support their families, pay rent and find transport money to get to work.
