The NHS often appears to be in a state of permanent crisis. Recently, there've been headlines about long waiting times for ambulances and the huge backlog for routine surgery. Before that, the Health Service faced a two-year pandemic which may rear its head again this winter.

But the NHS also has a big underlying problem. It has tens of thousands of vacancies for doctors, nurses and other medical workers – and that makes all the other pressures on the Health Service even harder to handle.

So why does the NHS have a staffing problem? And what can be done to fix it?

Joining David Aaronovitch in The Briefing Room are:

Producers: Bob Howard, Kirsteen Knight and Simon Watts. Editor: Tara McDermott. Studio Manager: Rod Farquhar. Production co-ordinator: Siobhan Reed.

PHOTO CREDIT: (Getty Images)