New data has shown that the number of NHS nurse vacancies in England has spiked by a significant 12 per cent in the past few months.

The latest NHS vacancy statistics for England, released by NHS Digital, shows as of June 2021 there were 38,952 registered nurse vacancies across the health service, a 12 per cent increase from the last data set in March 2021 (34,678).

London continues to have the worse nurse gaps, with 8,938 nurse vacancies as of June 2021, where the highest number of nurse vacancies can be seen in acute settings, where vacancies currently stand at 5,945, up from 5,796 on the same time last year.

The largest percentage increase of vacancies was found in the South West, with 2,753 in June 2021 – up by 24 per cent since March 2021 (2,205) and by 31 per cent the year before (2,097).

In terms of settings, overall, there were 22,685 acute nurse vacancies across England, 8,745 mental health and 1,694 community nurse vacancies. Additionally, there were 789 specialist nurse vacancies and 96 nurse vacancies within ambulance services.

Patricia Marquis, RCN England director, said: “As health and care services head into what will be a very difficult winter, this should stun ministers to address the rising number of nursing vacancies and prevent further risk to patient care. After the pressures from the last 18 months we also know that many experienced nurses are considering leaving the profession. These are skills that cannot be replaced quickly.”