The NHS workforce in England have fallen by the biggest figure in 10 years as various posts including that of nurse were cut, according to official figures released.

The NHS workforce in England recorded a fall of 1.4 per cent or by 19,799 by the end of September 2011 to 1,350,377. The biggest fall in staff members in more than a decade comes at a time when health experts are warning of dangers of shortage in staff levels.

Health chiefs in England are confronted with making £20bn in efficiency savings by 2014-15. the biggest cut was seen by management jobs as theyr numbers fell 8.9 per cent to
38,214, according to the report by the NHS Information Centre for Health and Social Care.

The support staff at NHS fell to 219,624, registering a fall of 5.9 per cent since 2010 while hospital and community health service nurses recorded a fall of 1 per cent. On the other hand, the number of GPs and consultant has increased by 0.9 per cent and 3.5 per cent respectively.

Politicians have said that nurses will be given more powers to improve monitoring to drive up standards but the union said that the government should look to establish and follow a strict minimum staffing level and not just rely on existing staff to fill the gaps.