TORY ministers’ claims that they are fixing the NHS crisis were discredited today by new analysis revealing that the overall waiting list has grown four times faster than the number of nurses.

Research by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) exposed the inadequacy of the government’s target of recruiting 50,000 nurses to ease the treatment backlog.

The union’s figures show that there are still dangerous staff shortages in the health service.

Since the recruitment pledge was given in 2019, there has been a 16 per cent increase in nursing staff in England, but patient waiting lists have grown by 70 per cent, the RCN found.

The official tally of nurse vacancies has fallen by little more than 100 in the four years since the commitment was made, with 43,339 roles still unfilled in England’s registered nursing workforce compared with 43,452 at the time of the pledge.

The RCN also highlighted that nearly half (48 per cent) of new nurses were internationally recruited — many from red-list countries which face a pressing shortage of healthcare workers — due to poor government policies.

Large-scale international recruitment is expensive, unsustainable and unethical in the light of a global shortage of nurses, the union said.

The government must do more to support people to come forward to study nursing domestically, the RCN also warned, as it revealed a 12 per cent fall in the number taking up nursing courses in England this year.

Widespread regional variations across England means that there is a postcode lottery for patient care, with some areas having significantly fewer nurses, the report noted.

There are just 47 nurses per 10,000 people across NHS services in Leicestershire, North Yorkshire and Cornwall, compared with 79 across north-central London.

RCN England director Patricia Marquis said: “When patient numbers and demand is so high, staffing levels become dangerously inadequate.

“It is unsafe for patients and professionals alike when one nurse cares for 10, 15 or more patients at a time and beds are put in corridors or other inappropriate places.”

Ms Marquis called on new Health Secretary Victoria Atkins to secure urgent investment in the nursing workforce in the forthcoming Autumn Statement.  

“This means abolishing tuition fees for nursing students and paying staff fairly,” she said.

“Only then will there be enough nurses to give patients the care they need and deserve.”