New figures show an increase in the number of healthcare workers in Worcestershire hospitals.

But a report by MPs says more staff are needed to address a national shortage.

Data from NHS Digital shows the number of doctors, midwives, nurses and health visitors at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.

The trust runs Worcestershire Royal Hospital in Worcester as well as Kidderminster Hospital and the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch.

As of April, there were 703 full-time doctors at the trust - up from 695 last year and 574 in April 2016, when comparable figures were first recorded.

Nationally, there were 128,000 doctors in NHS trusts in April, up from 124,000 the year before and 104,000 in 2016.

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But the workforce figures, which provide a snapshot overview, do not account for the number of healthcare workers who joined and left the NHS in between counts, nor do they indicate how staffing levels compare to demand for services.

And a report by the Health and Social Care Committee - a cross-party group of MPs - said the NHS must still recruit a further 12,000 hospital doctors to address a current national shortfall.

The number of midwives at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust has stayed roughly the same over the past year - there were 197 in April compared to 201 a year earlier.

Thousands more nurses and midwives needed

And there were 1,647 nurses and health visitors at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust in April, up from 1,594 last year and 1,417 at the start of the pandemic.

But the committee said there is a vast shortage of nurses nationally, with the NHS needing to urgently recruit more than 50,000 nurses and midwives.

Understaffing is not the only issue facing the NHS workforce.

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Different NHS Digital figures show trusts are still grappling with staff sickness, as the absence rate across all roles nationally rose to 6% in March – the fourth highest month since the pandemic began and well above pre-pandemic levels of 4.1% in March 2019.

At Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust, 5.9% of full-time staff days were lost due to sickness absence in March. In March 2019, the rate stood at 4.2%.

We have approached the trust for comment.