An NHS Trust in Mid Yorkshire is so short of doctors for its accident and emergency department that it is thinking of asking the army to provide medical staff to help out.

The department at Pontefract has been closed from 22:00 to 08:00 each day since November and the trust says it is looking at how army medical staff could provide support on a temporary basis.

Councillor Betty Rhodes, of Wakefield council, told Justin Webb that she would "welcome any measures" to get their services up and running at night, but hoped it would be of a "temporary nature".

Dr Taj Hassan, consultant at Leeds General Infirmary and vice president of the College of Emergency Medicine, said doctor shortage is "a national issue" with a 25% shortfall in many areas.

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