SIR – Not only is the NHS strapped for cash but it is also in the grip of a chronic staffing shortage as figures revealed by inspectors prove.

Care Quality Commission inspection reports of acute hospitals carried out in 2014 and 2015, found that of 89 hospitals, 68 had issues raised about short-staffing on one or more wards. In several cases, inspectors reported that staffing levels put patient safety at risk.

Despite warnings from inspectors, hospitals are coming under intense pressure to reduce staffing costs as the hospital sector anticipates a £2 billion deficit this year.

And, it also seems new immigration rules mean that many hospitals which have turned to overseas recruitment have found that visas for new nurses trained overseas have been delayed or rejected.

So, currently, it seems that in the NHS there is a vast shortage of money, a shortage of staff and burgeoning waiting times for patients to be seen by a clinician.

At the moment the NHS is anything but ‘safe’ in this Government’s hands.

David Hornsby, West View Avenue, Wrose