The Yorkshire Post says: NHS perspectives '“ all parties to blame for staff shortage

Twenty four hours after Labour claimed that there are 100,000 unfilled vacancies, the General Medical Council says more than 40 per cent of doctors in some regions have trained overseas.

This is not a criticism of those concerned. Quite the opposite. The difficulties afflicting hospitals would be far greater if they couldn’t access the brightest and best staff – the only concern is those very rare occurrences when care falls short of the high standards expected by patients.

It should also not be about party politics – both the Tories and Labour are guilty of not heeding serial warnings about the urgent need to train many more doctors and nurses to look after a growing and ageing population that was forecast long ago by experts.

Yet this failing is also fundamental to the increasingly toxic Brexit debate that will dominate the political landscape for the foreseeable future.

Even though Britain has agreed a provisional divorce deal with the European Union, and given cast-iron assurances about the rights of EU citizens living and working here, the wider ramifications for the workforce are still in doubt.

It shouldn’t be like this. Rather than scoring points off each other, every main party at Westminster should be working together to ensure that Britain secures the best Brexit deal – too much focus is on pejorative terms like ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ – and that the country’s staffing needs are not compromised. They can begin by addressing the NHS’s needs – enough time has already been wasted.