Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
‘Right to put patient safety above targets’
Freelance nurses are routinely costing more than double the rate of staff nurses in breach of new government limits, the Gazette can reveal.
East Kent’s hospitals trust admits it broke a 100% cap on agency staff premiums at a rate of 150 times a week.
Trust bosses admit the breaches but say that patient care remains their priority – even if it means breaking new rules.
With the cap since reined in to 75% and set to plunge to an even stricter 55%, it is anticipated that the breaches are now occurring at a higher rate.
A trust spokesman said: “In the absence of supply within the price caps, it has been necessary for the trust to pay higher rates to maintain patient safety and quality of care; ensuring we have specialist nurses in areas such as the emergency department, cancer services and the intensive care unit.”
East Kent’s hospitals trust remains in special measures after Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors identified a culture of managerial bullying and poor A&E performances in 2015.
Monitor, the government health watchdog which imposed special measures, is also responsible for imposing caps on payments to agencies.
Monitor’s cap, set in November last year, meant nursing agencies should not receive payments more than 100% greater than the cost of full-time NHS counterparts.
A Nursing Times investigation revealed that 85% of trusts nationwide admitted to breaching the cap between November and the end of January this year.
East Kent Hospitals Trust’s rate of breaches was found to be 158 per week.
Hamza Aumeer, senior officer for the Royal College of Nursing in Kent said: “These trusts are the victims of a national failure to train enough nurses over a number of years. Trusts are absolutely right to prioritise patient safety over compliance.
“In the south east these national problems are exacerbated by local pressure, with trusts competing with higher wages offered by nearby employers in London.”
Richard Murray, director of policy at the King’s Fund thinktank, said it was striking how hard it had already proved for trusts to comply, even when rates were limited to 100% above substantive pay. He said: “Once those rates continue to tighten and go down, there will be even more overrides because people won’t be able to get the staff.
“Until something is done about the shortage of nurses – if you push these rates down – the danger is organisations will not be able to get the staff they need.”
A spokesman for Monitor said that the policy was in its “early days” but claimed it was already having a “positive impact” on reducing spending levels.
He said: “We want trusts to be able to rely on a more stable supply of staff, paid on standard NHS terms and conditions and not the rip-off rates charged by agencies in recent years.”
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