DOC CRISIS

Patients failed as NHS short ≫ £674million bill for agency of 33,000 crucial consultants staff to keep hospitals running

- BY MARTIN BAGOT Health Editor

THE NHS staffing crisis means one in three senior doctor positions are still unfilled in parts of the country, a report warns.

Data released under Freedom of Information laws found 33,000 consultant jobs were listed on the NHS Jobs website between 2022 and 2025 in England and Wales - enough to staff more than 66 large hospitals.

The report in the British Medical Journal found the NHS spent £674million on expensive agency doctors in 2024/25 as vacancies regularly take 12 months to fill.

One resident doctor at a North London trust said: "It's a complete nightmare - the doctors who are left have to work at 150%, patients have to wait longer to be seen, and by the end of the shift doctors are running on fumes."