In short supply. Estimating the shortfall of registered nurses in the NHS in England (RCN, 22 September 2026)

Summary

A new report shows how England’s NHS could be short of at least twice as many registered nurses as first thought, as testimony from nursing staff shows how workforce shortages have led to fractures, delays to life-saving medication and brain bleeds.

It includes new analysis of hospital trust board papers which reveals that hundreds of patient safety incidents are taking place each month linked to having too few registered nurses on shift. 

The report from the Royal College of Nursing found that despite the clear evidence of harm caused by too few registered nurses, the number of doctors has grown nearly twice as fast. Had nurse numbers grown at the same rate as doctors since 2009, England's NHS would have more than 77,000 additional nurses today. 

Overall, the analysis found that based on the increase in NHS activity since 2009, including admissions, attendances and appointments, the health service is actually short by an estimated 55,000 registered nurses to deliver care safely, more than double the official number of NHS vacancies, which stands at 23,046 as of August.

Included in the report is an audit of recent trust board papers which shows that some hospitals are reporting hundreds of “red flag” patient safety incidents a month. These are safety reports arising from staff shortages including delays to pain relief, essential medication and missed care.