The Education Secretary sought to reassure the public amid concerns about workforce shortages hitting the health service. A number of hospital trusts have declared critical incidents after struggling to cope with staff absence rates, including workers with Covid-19 or in self-isolation. Mr Zahawi told BBC Breakfast: "We now have 10,000 more nurses and 3,000 more doctors than we had last year. But the NHS is very good at making sure that staff shortages are monitored and dealt with pretty well.

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