We have a freedom of movement deal with india now, hopeful that will start to kick in soon and fill the vacancies in the NHS.
Unless something massive has changed recently we don't have a free movement deal with India?
As I understand it there are points based / 'labour market test' immigration controls for Indian migrants, but up to 3000 students and professionals get to bypass the system every year for up to two years under the special deal?
The NHS has been sending recruitment expeditions to the third world for years now to recruit their nurses etc, and there are well worn immigration routes for them. It's not been enough so far though.
I guess opening up immigration for lower skilled jobs like healthcare assistants and emergency care assistants could help, but recruitment for them isn't such an issue really AFAIK.
Part of the problem is simply that even if all vacancies were filled with qualified staff capacity would still be short because the system is undersized for the demands placed on it. High vacancy rates exacerbate the problems but don't cause them.