Responding to data collected by the Labour Party from freedom of information requests made to NHS hospitals, which shows the impact of workforce shortages in the NHS, Saffron Cordery, interim chief executive at NHS Providers said:

"These worrying findings show just how much pressure trusts are under due to chronic staff shortages. We currently have a staggering 133,000 vacancies in the NHS, which impacts patients' access to care.

"The failure of multiple governments over many years to deliver an effective NHS workforce plan is at the root of this growing problem. Now, looming strike action and rapidly rising demand threaten to exacerbate the situation this winter.

"Trust leaders are doing all they can to deliver high-quality services, but staff are overstretched. We welcomed the chancellor's commitment to publish a comprehensive NHS workforce plan in 2023, which has been desperately needed for years. We are clear that to be effective, the plan must be fully costed and fully funded to tackle severe health and social care workforce shortages, improve waiting times and properly address the elective care backlog."