THE NHS is facing a “perfect storm” of nurse shortages which will make planned government reforms “impossible,” the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) warns today.

The union said nurses are quitting in their thousands “due to burnout and exhaustion caused by low staffing levels, increasing patient need, and a lack of recognition from government.”

Around 350,000 nurses are employed under the NHS and the service has 46,800 vacancies of which more than 32,000 are in England.