There were 86,055 advertised full-time vacancies in the NHS in the first quarter of 2017 compared with 78,112 in the same period last year, new figures from NHS Digital show.
Figures released by NHS England show that in March there were 30,613 vacant full-time equivalent positions advertised, compared to 26,424 in the same month in 2016.
Of those positions vacant in March 2017, 11,485 positions were in nursing and midwifery (38% of the 30,613 total) and 6,575 (21%) were clerical or administrative.
It comes after it emerged that a London hospital is recruiting doctors directly from India to avoid getting into a bidding war over staff that is being driven by the NHS recruitment crisis.
Following Freedom of Information requests, several hospital trusts have admitted to having more than 1,000 vacancies across their services, raising concerns over patient safety.
It has been predicted that the process of recruiting new staff may be complicated by Brexit, which has raised uncertainties for EU citizens working or considering working in the UK.
