The figures you link to show very little to no change in staffing proportions between 1999 and 2009. Professionally qualified clinical staff sum to 52% in both

The figures you link to show very little to no change in staffing proportions between 1999 and 2009. Professionally qualified clinical staff sum to 52% in both years, increasing exactly in line with total NHS employment. Figures I found for 1997 and 2007 are similar, showing proportions of clinical staff at 49% and 51% respectively. http://content.digital.nhs.uk/catalogue/PUB00829/nhs-staf-1997-2007-over-rep.pdf http://content.digital.nhs.uk/catalogue/PUB00829/nhs-staf-19... And medical school intake has risen from 3,749 in 1997/98 to 6,262 in 2012/13 - a rise of 67.0 per cent. http://www.nhsconfed.org/resources/key-statistics-on-the-nhs http://www.nhsconfed.org/resources/key-statistics-on-the-nhs It's still not enough - Britain spends maybe 2% GDP less on healthcare than other rich European countries. But at the end of Labour's time in power, there were 1/3rd more doctors and nurses employed by the NHS. The funding increase helped enormously. Edit. But yes, the massive IT projects in the NHS were a hugely wasteful like all massive government IT projects. The approach of the Government Digital Service seems to be a huge improvement.