Health and social care workers are quitting to get better paid jobs in warehouses and retail, an NHS boss has revealed.
Matthew Taylor, boss of the NHS Confederation, said the staffing situation was "deteriorating" in the run up to Christmas as workers leave health service jobs over pay.
Hundreds of thousands of NHS staff are poised to strike over the Government’s refusal to give them above inflation pay rises.
The Royal College of Nursing has told the Government that its members will strike in December unless detailed talks on pay begin within days.
It comes amid warnings the NHS will remain on "crisis footing" despite cash promised in the Autumn Statement.
Mr Taylor told Sky News' Ridge on Sunday: "The cost of living crisis is hard for everyone but the private sector in the end can pass on extra costs, it can raise wages.
"I speak to people every day who work in health and social care and they talk about staff leaving to go and work in warehouses, to go and work in retail, something which intensifies at Christmas.
"So that situation is deteriorating."
Asked if leaving the EU had impacted on staffing levels, he said: "There's no question that Brexit is part of this and the Government themselves has taken measures to bring more staff in from around the world.
"We have labour shortages everywhere and they are particularly acute in health and care because we don't pay very much and the work is extremely demanding.
"But yes, Brexit cut off a supply of labour and we've had to scrabble around now to try and bring in people because without overseas staff, our NHS simply would not work."
Health Secretary Steve Barclay admitted the NHS was under "huge pressure" but said the pandemic was mostly to blame for ballooning waiting lists.
Asked if the NHS is on the brink of collapse, he told Sky News: "I recognise there is huge pressure... but that is why in the autumn statement we prioritised in particular social care."
Mr Barclay insisted his door was open to trade unions but signalled that he would not support the RCN's "unreasonable" demand for pay hikes of 5% above inflation.
He said it was "important to look at the package" offered to nurses as a whole, rather than just pay.
"I am very keen to engage with the trade unions... my door is open," he added.
But his morning interviews angered the RCN, who said his "lack of intention and inability to see the urgency of this situation will trouble every nurse."
RCN General Secretary Pat Cullen said: “Just an hour after we again urged him to come to the negotiating table to have detailed, formal discussions on pay and patient safety, he showed no signs of doing so.
“He has finally admitted what we’ve been saying about years of neglect, underinvestment and, as a result, underperformance, but that is not enough.
“This is a key week for health and care. We need ministers to be bold and adopt a radical new position with serious investment in nursing, including fair pay. If governments don’t follow Nicola Sturgeon’s lead in Scotland, we will announce strike dates in December for the rest of the UK.”
Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting told the Mirror: “Nurses feeling that they have to leave their jobs to seek better pay is a damning indictment of 12 years of Tory government.
“The Government is refusing to negotiate with nurses and says these are “economically challenging times.” Whose fault is that?
“The Conservatives crashed the economy and it’s nurses and working people who are paying the price.
“The Health Secretary should stop making excuses and start negotiating to prevent strike action in the NHS.”
Gary Smith, GMB general secretary, branded the Health Secretary "deluded" over funding the NHS and care services.
He told the BBC: "Why didn't they tax non-doms, why didn't they tax the richest people in this country with the broadest shoulders who pay no tax at all, what have they done about bankers' bonuses?
"The Tory government has made ideological decisions for over a decade about cutting services and that's what has left services on their knees and this is not hyperbole - our care homes were turned into morgues during the pandemic because of mismanagement and cuts.
"People are dying because of cuts to services so I find that interview utterly dishonest and frankly the minister is deluded."
Lib Dem Health spokesperson Daisy Cooper said the Government couldn't continue to blame the pandemic for "years of neglect and mismanagement of our NHS".
She said: "All Steve Barclay did was deliver a jumble of jargon to deflect from the fact that, when it comes to our health and social care services, this government hasn’t got a clue."
