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NHS England: Staff

Asked by Helen MorganLiberal DemocratDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled Answered 21 May 2026UIN 265

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS England employees there (a) are and (b) were on 13 March 2025; and what estimate he has made of the number of NHS England employees there will be following the first round of the voluntary redundancy scheme.

Answered by Karin Smyth

There were 17,517 full-time equivalent posts within NHS England at the end of March 2025, 2,484 of which were vacant. At the end of April 2026, there were 13,940 staff in post in NHS England. NHS England ran a voluntary redundancy scheme in December 2025 with staff leaving over a staggered profile. The final number of staff who leave under the voluntary redundancy scheme will not be known until all those exiting have left.

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