Mr Dobson was speaking as Labour went on the offensive over bed and staffing problems within the National Health Service sparked by an upsurge in flu cases.

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The health secretary has issued a report in which he places the blame for the current problems squarely on the shoulders of the previous Conservative government.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Dobson said: "We've been importing doctors and nurses for nurses for donkeys years now.

"The whole of the developed world does it and, in a sense, it is an international disgrace."

The report issued by Mr Dobson describes how "five years of Tory complacency and under-investment sowed the seeds for today's problems.

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"Between 1992 and 1994, the Tories cut the number of nurse training places from 15,073 to 10,849."

This year about 15,500 student nurses are expected to begin training - the highest figure for six years.

The report continues: "If the Tories had matched that commitment to nurse training over their last five years of office there could now be over 14,000 extra nurses working on the wards."

Frank Dobson: Tories cut nurse training places

Mr Dobson told Today: "The reduced number coming out is a product of the reductions they deliberately made at that time.

"But we certainly have to address the question of nurses' pay.

"Again, unlike the previous government who denied there was any shortage of nurses when submitting our evidence to the pay review body, we have on both occasions on submitting our evidence, we have said there is a shortage and the pay settlement should reflect that."

Mr Dobson said he would like to see an improvement in the "pay and working conditions of nurses", including introducing more flexible shifts.

The Health Secretary launched an inquiry last September into hospital beds to provide clear guidance on the future number, mix and use of beds needed.

Lack of beds

A lack of spare emergency beds have resulted in reports health services are having to turn away emergency cases because of the combined effect of the flu outbreak and a shortage of nurses. Only 20 intensive care beds were available in England over the weekend.

The government has pledged extra cash to help the National Health Service cope under the strain of the latest flu outbreak, as well as saying the number of people waiting for an operation has fallen again.

But Labour has come under fire from the opposition who say the current crisis - which has left patients waiting for hours in hospital corridors - is due to the government's preoccupation with getting waiting lists down.

There was an outcry earlier in the week when an unexpected increase in deaths led to a Norfolk and Norwich Hospital to hire a refrigerated lorry as a temporary mortuary.

The opposition was given more ammunition on Thursday when it emerged that hospitals in Portsmouth had asked relatives and friends of patients to wash, feed and shave them because staff were too busy coping with the emergency admissions crisis.

The Portsmouth Hospitals Trust said the move came after hospital managers met to discuss how they could relieve pressure on staff over the busy winter period.