NHS is world’s biggest employer after Indian rail and Chinese Army
ENGLAND may once have been a nation of shopkeepers, but it is becoming a country of healthcare workers, with one in every twenty-three of the working population being employed by the NHS.
Almost 1.3 million people — or the combined populations of Birmingham and Coventry — work for the NHS, which is one of the world’s biggest employers.
Since 1997, the number of NHS staff has risen by nearly 230,000, with a record 59,000 people — enough to fill Old Trafford football stadium — joining last year alone.
According to the latest workforce census, the NHS employs 386,400 nurses — matching the entire population of Edinburgh — 109,000 doctors and 122,100 scientists and other therapists.