There were 86,055 advertised full-time vacancies in the NHS in the first quarter of 2017 compared with 78,112 in the same period last year, new figures from NHS Digital show.

Figures for NHS England show that in March there were 30,613 vacant full-time equivalent positions advertised, compared to 26,424 in the same month in 2016.

Of those positions vacant in March 2017, 11,485 positions were in nursing and midwifery (38% of the 30,613 total) and 6,575 (21%) were clerical or administrative.

The figures also showed that the average nursing and midwifery role advertised in the NHS is only drawing three applications.

It comes after it emerged a London hospital is recruiting doctors directly from India to avoid getting into a bidding war over staff that is being driven by the NHS recruitment crisis.


NHS finds new ways to fill vacancies

Following Freedom of Information requests, several hospital trusts have admitted to having more than 1,000 vacancies across their services, raising concerns over patient safety.

It has been predicted that the process of recruiting new staff may be complicated by Brexit, which has raised uncertainties for EU citizens working or considering working in the UK.

Labour's shadow health spokesman Justin Madders told Sky News that the latest figures had not come as a surprise.

He said: "We've been warning for some time that the Government were simply not doing enough not only to recruit enough staff but to retain existing staff.

"We know that Brexit has led to a massive reduction in the EU nationals that work here in the health service and we know that figures show that more midwives are leaving the profession than joining it for the first time in the history of the NHS."

Labour: Govt should be welcoming nurses to UK

He said it should be up to the job of government to show that in professions such as doctors and nurses where there are recruitment problems, the UK would welcome people who have those skills into the country.

In June, it was revealed that the number of nurses from the European Union registering to work in the UK has fallen by 96% since the Brexit vote last year.

Dr Mark Holland, president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said the figures show that it was time for the Government's 1% cap on public sector pay rises to end.

He said: "Removing the pay cap on NHS staff, particularly the lowest paid, is long overdue, while the extra pressure on overworked frontline staff to meet targets must be eased.

"This data shows it is high time we saw steps taken to stop disincentivising staff - salaries must be fair, working conditions must be safe and sustainable and clear career pathways must be in place."

A Department of Health spokesperson said: "Staffing is a priority - that's why we have invested in the frontline and there are almost 32,400 more professionally qualified clinical staff including almost 11,800 more doctors, and over 12,500 more nurses on our wards since May 2010."

Separate figures from the NHS statistical authority show that the total NHS workforce went up by 1.9% between April 2017 and April 2016.