THE number of vacant NHS nursing posts hit a new high of 34,260 last year, with some areas only recruiting one nurse for every 400 jobs advertised.

Official figures showed there were almost 88,000 vacancies across the NHS in England in the quarter to September, with 28,242 in September alone.

Royal College of Nursing general secretary Janet Davies said: “These figures pull back the curtain to reveal an NHS desperately short of nurses. The government can no longer deny the staffing crisis.