THE government is “playing a dangerous game” with the delay to the long-awaited NHS workforce plan, a nursing union warned today as staffing numbers are plummeting and waiting lists soaring.

In England, the NHS workforce plan is supposed to address the chronic staff shortages and show a path towards fixing the crisis in the health service.

It was expected to include forecasts for the number of doctors, nurses and other professionals needed to maintain the workforce over the next five to 15 years.

But the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has warned of a “catalogue of issues.”

Its review of official data shows that health targets continue to be missed and patients failed.

In acute settings in England, more than 1.5 million more people waited longer than four hours in A&E in 2022 compared to 2011, the union said.

And the NHS elective care waiting list has grown by 169 per cent in the same period.

In 2011, an average of 2.53 million patients were on waiting lists compared to 6.79 million last year.

The data also shows waiting lists were continually growing even before the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the RCN.

At the same time, nursing vacancy rates since 2017 have remained stubbornly high.

The RCN said that according to the latest data, there are more than 40,000 nurse vacancies in the NHS in England.

RCN general secretary Pat Cullen said: “The crisis in the nursing workforce is leaving patient care at risk and the immense pressure could risk the collapse of health and care services.

“Ministers are playing a dangerous game by delaying the long-awaited NHS workforce plan — we simply cannot wait any longer.”

Ms Cullen said that the workforce plan “won’t be the end of the story,” adding: “Our assessment confirms the fact we need investment right across health and care services — without that patients will continue to lose out.

“Some of the most vulnerable are stuck in hospital, partly because of underinvestment in social care and more than a decade of declining community nursing numbers.

“The knock-on effect in hospitals is disturbing, with four-hour-plus waiting times increasing 16-fold between 2011 and 2022.

“This catalogue of issues must be addressed urgently, or many people will continue to go without the care they need.

“No more delays, the government needs to deliver.”