LABOUR urged the Tories today to fix the crisis of staff shortages and precarious employment in the NHS.

Information obtained by Labour through a freedom of information request shows that some NHS trusts are relying on short-term agency labour for months on end. One NHS trust had more than 600 employees on year-long agency contracts.

An ambulance trust said a staff member had worked at least one agency shift per month for 157 months, while a mental health trust in London said one worker had done so for 126 months. For nursing, the longest run was 95 months at a trust in the north-east of England.