Wigan hospitals took on 73 extra staff to tackle Covid-19

The Government has praised the contribution made by new and returning healthcare workers during the pandemic – but experts say action is needed to address recruitment concerns long term.

NHS workforce figures show there were 6,336 members of staff employed by WWL in April, 73 more than during March.

The biggest increase in workers was among those in clinical support roles, whose numbers swelled from 2,197 to 2,230.

This included 34 workers who were directly supporting doctors and nurses.

The NHS says many new starters in this group will have been student doctors or nurses who were fast tracked into employment to help fight the virus.

Among the recruits in April were 1,151 new Foundation Year 1 doctors, who are junior doctors just graduated from medical school.