Leaders of doctors' organisations have warned that changes in the skills mix of medical staff will not be enough to bridge a 25000 shortfall in staff in 20 years' time predicted by an independent review of health funding.

The final report by former banker Derek Wanless, Securing our Future Health: Taking a Long-Term View, which was published last week, argues that the NHS will need two thirds more doctors and one third more nurses to deliver a top quality health service by 2022.

The forecast rise in health staff stems from the review's vision of a “Rolls-Royce” health service delivering first class care in state of the art buildings by 2022. The Wanless vision entails patients waiting no more than two weeks for inpatient treatment or outpatient consultations. Food and accommodation would be vastly improved. Investment in information technology would be doubled. And doctors would spend 10% of their time—double the estimated time at present—on clinical …