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NHS workforce: Size, characteristics and staffing levels

This briefing is part of a series of briefings on the NHS workforce.

Size and characteristics of the NHS workforce

As of November 2025, there were 1.55 million people working in NHS hospitals and community health services in England, filling 1.38 million full-time equivalent (FTE) posts.

Doctors in hospitals and community health services

In November 2025, there were 153,600 full time equivalent (FTE) doctors in England’s hospital and community health services. This is 24% higher than five years ago (when there were 123,500 doctors) and 47% higher than ten years ago (104,700 doctors).

A slightly higher proportion of FTE doctors are male (53%) than female (47%). Doctors have a lower age profile compared with the overall NHS workforce.

Nurses

In November 2025, there were 367,300 FTE nurses in England’s hospitals and community health services. This is 22% higher than five years ago (when there were 300,600 nurses in November 2020) and 33% higher than ten years ago (275,400 nurses).

Nurses are grouped with health visitors in NHS workforce diversity data. Health visitors can be specialist community public health nurses, registered midwives or nurses.

A sizeable majority of the FTE workforce are female (87%). This is fairly consistent across all nursing grades.

GPs

As of December 2025, there were around 28,200 FTE qualified permanent GPs in England.

When other categories such as locums and GPs in training are included, as well as trainees, the total number of FTE GPs was 38,200.

Over the last five years, the number of permanent qualified GPs has risen by around 4% (up from 27,100 in December 2020). When including locums and trainees, the total number of GPs has increased by 9% (up from 35,200 in December 2020).

Over the last 10 years, the number of permanent qualified GPs has decreased by around 1.4% (down from 28,600 in September 2015). However, when including locums and trainees, the total number of GPs has increased by 11% (up from 34,400 in September 2015).

A higher proportion of FTE permanent qualified GPs were female (53%) than male (47%).

The Commons Library briefing on NHS key statistics in England summarises the demand, performance, backlogs, and capacity of NHS services in England. It covers A&E waiting times, hospital waiting lists, cancer waiting times, ambulance response times, and more.

Vacancies

Over the last decade, annual NHS turnover figures for England have tended to show more people joining than leaving the NHS. Despite this, the level of vacancies in the NHS in England has increased in recent years because the total number of roles has grown.

Staffing levels and costs

There are legal requirements for healthcare providers to ensure sufficient staffing to meet patients’ needs. There is no set formula or ratio for deciding safe, or minimum, staffing levels.

The NHS uses both internal ‘banks’ of staff and external agencies to fill temporary vacancies. Staff supplied by agencies cost on average 20% more than NHS bank staff.

Following concerns about NHS spending on agency staffing, there have been attempts to reduce these costs:

• In 2022/23, NHS providers spent £3.46 billion on agency staff.
• In 2023/24, NHS providers spent £3.02 billion on agency staff.
• In 2024/25 NHS providers spent £2.07 billion on agency staff (a reduction of £1.4 billion compared with 2022/2023).