The Gera NHS Staff Vacancy Index

Gera NHS Staff Vacancy Index: FAQs

What is the Gera NHS Staff Vacancy Index?

The Gera NHS Staff Vacancy Index (GNSVI) is a single 0–100 score that summarises how severe the NHS England staffing shortage is for a staff group. Higher means a more severe shortage (a larger share of funded posts unfilled). For 30 September 2025 the whole-workforce index is 67 / 100 — 6.7% of funded posts were vacant (100,023 FTE). It is computed transparently from the real NHS vacancy rate; the full formula is on the methodology page.

How is the index calculated?

It places the official NHS vacancy rate on a common 0–100 severity scale: GNSVI = the vacancy rate divided by a 10% reference ceiling, times 100, capped at 100 and rounded to one decimal place. A 10% vacancy rate — roughly one funded post in ten unfilled — scores 100 (most severe). Every input is the real published NHS figure; only the scaling is Gera's, and the 10% ceiling is fully disclosed. So a 6.7% whole-workforce rate scores 67, 6.0% nursing scores 60, 4.4% medical scores 44.

How bad is the NHS staff shortage right now?

As of 30 September 2025, NHS England had 100,023 vacancies (FTE) — a 6.7% vacancy rate, giving a Gera NHS Staff Vacancy Index of 67 / 100 (severe shortage). That is down from 109,919 vacancies (7.4%) a year earlier, so the shortage eased over the year but remains substantial.

Which NHS staff group has the worst shortage?

Of the reported groups, Registered Nursing scores highest on the Gera NHS Staff Vacancy Index at 60 / 100 (6.0% vacancy rate, 25,504 FTE), while Medical scores 44 / 100 (4.4%). Nursing is the largest clinical shortage by headcount at 25,504 vacancies; medical vacancies stand at 7,248.

What about allied health professional (AHP) vacancies?

Allied Health Professionals (for example physiotherapists, radiographers and occupational therapists) are counted by the NHS within the broader "Scientific, therapeutic and technical" staff group, which the headline NHS Vacancy Statistics release does not report as a single summary figure. Rather than estimate a number, this index links AHPs to the HCPC registration pathway and points to the full NHS tables for that cut.

Which region has the highest NHS vacancy rate?

The NHS Vacancy Statistics release reports that London had the highest overall NHS vacancy rate at 7.7% at the reference date, against a national 6.7%. The full per-region and per-staff-group breakdown is published in the NHS data tables linked as the source; this index does not restate figures it cannot cite exactly.

Is a higher score good or bad?

Higher is worse. A higher Gera NHS Staff Vacancy Index means a more severe shortage — a larger share of funded NHS posts left unfilled. A score of 100 would mean a 10% vacancy rate (one funded post in ten unfilled). Lower scores mean fewer unfilled posts relative to the funded workforce.

How often is the index updated?

NHS England publishes vacancy statistics quarterly, roughly two months after the reference date. Gera recomputes the index on each release. The figures on this page are for 30 September 2025 (published 27 November 2025) and were last recomputed on 2 July 2026.

What does the index NOT show?

It covers NHS England only and measures the gap between funded posts and permanent or fixed-term staff in post — a post counted as vacant may already be covered by temporary bank or agency workers, so this is a workforce gap, not a complete measure of the staffing shortfall. It is not provider- or hospital-level, and the source calls it Experimental Statistics. It is not recruitment advice for any individual.

How does this connect to working in the NHS from overseas?

Each shortage maps to a real UK registration pathway. Nursing vacancies map to the NMC Test of Competence route; medical vacancies to the GMC / PLAB route; allied health roles to HCPC registration; pharmacy to GPhC. GeraClinic publishes free, honest information on each pathway. This is pathway information for people who independently choose to migrate — it is not recruitment, and Gera does not actively recruit from countries on the WHO health-workforce safeguard list.