The government has hailed the latest NHS recruitment campaign as a success.

More than 80,000 people rang the NHS careers helpline during an eight-week period after a £3.3 million advertising campaign was launched in February.

The result betters that of last year's campaign, which garnered over 51,000 responses.

Since the first advertising campaign in 2000, more than 15,000 nurses, midwives and health visitors have been recruited.

A further 2,500 have either completed refresher courses or are preparing to start them.

In the last two years alone, nearly 1,000 healthcare professionals and almost 300 scientists have returned to the NHS.

"These figures show that the NHS is an attractive place to work and becoming an employer of choice," said health minister John Hutton.

"More young people and graduates are choosing to work in the NHS, whilst those who left are now choosing to return. The national recruitment campaign has been very successful to date.

"There are now almost 50,000 more nurses, almost 8000 doctors and over 8000 therapists working in the NHS than there were five years ago.

"But we want to do more. The ongoing recruitment campaign will continue to raise the profile of careers in the NHS, encourage new entrants into training and attract returners back to the NHS to ensure that we continue to build on the success of this campaign."

However, the Conservatives accused the government of further spinning.

"Yet again the Government's obsession with spin is trying to create a false impression about recruitment. These are enquiries to a telephone helpline, rather than real recruitment figures," said shadow health secretary Dr Liam Fox.

"The public expect results, not soundbites. Morale amongst NHS professionals is at an all time low because of the government's incessant interference.

"This sort of incident only reinforces the sense of desperation and demoralisation felt by hard working NHS staff who increasingly feel they are used as part of the government's spin machine.

"The NHS will become an attractive place to work again when doctors and nurses are given the professional freedom to do what they were trained to do, rather than being forced to work to Labour's political priorities.

"Only the Conservative Party would bring about real reform."