The £2.4billion pledge will be made today by PM Rishi Sunak to try to plug a staffing black hole that would have tripled in size and left the health service short of 360,000 personnel by 2037.

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Health chiefs say they can now draft in 60,000 more doctors, 170,000 extra nurses and 71,000 other medics in that time.

The move will double training places for doctors and nurses as well as boosting GP and dentist numbers.

It will save the NHS £2billion a year on agency staff and slash the time it takes to get from the classroom to the ward.

Mr Sunak said: “On the 75th anniversary of our health service, this Government is making the largest single expansion in NHS education and training in its history. We will train twice the number of doctors and an extra 24,000 more nurses a year, helping cut waiting lists and improve patient care.”

NHS England chief Amanda Pritchard hailed the “historic day for the NHS”.

But Sir Julian Hartley, of NHS Providers which represents hospitals, said: “The plan’s ambitions are promising but the details will be crucial.”

The NHS currently has 112,000 vacancies — almost half of them for nurses.

Half a million new medics will already be in training by 2028, the NHS said.

Medical school places will double to 15,000 per year by 2031, nurse places will double to 24,000 and GP posts will rise 50 per cent to 6,000.

Professor Dame Helen Stokes-Lampard, of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, added: “We know things are very tough for patients and health and care staff right across the UK.

“I hope this plan brings hope with glimpses of a more positive future to all who work in the NHS and the millions of people who rely on it every day.”