Health care is labour intensive, regardless of the nature of the health system, its structural characteristics, levels and sources of funding, or political underpinnings. The effective delivery of care requires decisions to be made about how much funding to allocate to staffing and what mix of skills to deploy. At the same time, quality of care relies on the number and skills of the people providing it. But staffing is not just about numbers. High levels of morale and engagement are vital to the delivery of good quality care, free from avoidable harm. This report examines the salient features of the health care workforce in England and reviews associated health labour market trends and dynamics. It also explores some specific health care workforce ‘pressure points’ for the NHS in England, where workforce profile and effectiveness is at risk and which require attention from policymakers.