How many doctors does a health system need? Histories of workforce planning in the NHS

Health systems across the world are currently facing profound workforce shortages. This is, however, not a new phenomenon. Drawing on the case study of the British National Health Service (NHS), we explore how it has struggled to answer the fundamental question of how many doctors it needs with any accuracy or certainty. While the NHS is organisationally complex, it remains one of the world's most monopolistic health care systems. Despite this, …