The NHS needs to plug a “spiralling” staff shortage than could render it short of more than half a million staff, according to the Guardian. The newspaper says it obtained an internal document that says it is currently operating with 154,000 fewer full-time staff than it needs, with the NHS “unable to cope” with a rising demand for care. Elsewhere, it writes that an independent drugs advisory council warned against banning laughing gas, saying it could create “significant burdens” for those who need to use it.