Recruiters have given a muted response to a leaked report showing that the NHS may have too many consultants in a few years' time, but will suffer a shortage of nurses and GPs.

The report forecasts that by March 2011, the NHS in England will have 3,200 consultants too many, which "it cannot afford to employ". But it will be short of 14,000 nurses and 1,200 too few GPs.

Tom Hadley, external relations director at the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, said: "It shows the need to have more flexibility in staffing levels, and it should mean more use of agency staff."

Robert Stiff says a shortage of GPs in the UK has arisen due to consultant roles in hospitals being seen as more "exciting". Salaries have traditionally been lower, though a recent report said that the average GP now earned £118,000 in the year 2005-06, according to the Association of Specialist Medical Accountants.

Stiff believes that those who set out for a career as a consultant are unlikely to make the switch to GP to fill the void.

The uncertainty of the projections, however, would make it difficult for recruiters to formulate a strategy to address the issues in the report, said Hadley.

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