£1715 a shift for one nurse? That’s enough to make you feel sick
MSP slams debt-crisis health board over payments
A cash-strapped health board is paying £1715 a shift for agency nurses, the Sunday Mail can reveal.
Figures obtained through freedom of information (FOI) laws show the astonishing sums being shelled out by NHS Lothian for staff.
The heavily indebted board, which is at the centre of a number of financial mismanagement controversies, has admitted it is spending up to £142.95 an hour for nurses through private agencies.
It means a staggering £1715 will be handed to private firms in exchange for providing a worker to cover a standard 12-hour shift.
The nurses only receive a fraction of the payment, which would equate to a yearly salary of almost £250,000.
Meanwhile, the cost for agency doctors is an eye-watering £179.70 an hour – or £2156 per 12-hour shift.
Details of the shocking expenditure come after revelations that NHS Lothian has been paying £1.4million a month in PFI repayments for Edinburgh’s Royal Hospital for Sick Children – despite patients being unable to move in over safety fears.
Labour MSP Neil Find lay, who requested thee FOI figures, said: “NHS Lothian has the worst level of debt in Scotland.land.
“It’s payingg out £1.4million a month on fees for the sick kids’ hospitaltal that hasn’t treated a single patient, waiting timeses are increasing and there’s’s a GP crisis.
“In addition,on, we hear every day from staff who are wilting under the pressures they’re experiencing.
“Now we establish they’re paying £1715 per day to a private agency for nurse cover, all because of the SNP Government’s complete failure to address staffing problems in our NHS. “The health service in Scotland is completely devolved to the Scottish Parliament. The SNP has been in powerpow for 12 years, it cannot blame anyoneanyo else for this scandal.
“We need a Government thatthat’ll face up to the staffing problemproblems in our health service and act nowno to recruit the staff to deliver thet care patients need.” An Audit Audit Scot l an Scotland report reveal revealed last monthmon that NHSNH Lothian is predicted to have a deficit of £90million by 2020-21. The sum is almost half of the total £ 207million forecast across all Scottish health boards and has been accumulating since 2009-10.
The FOI figures also reveal Lothian spent £28.5million on agency staff to cover work over the last three years.
One agency, the Nursing Guild, has raked in more than £6million since 2016 supplying staff to the board.
NHS Lothian’s reputation has been badly damaged by the sick kids’ hospital scandal. The new unit was supposed to open in 2017 but has been plagued by delays and cost increases.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “The use of temporary staff allows for the continuation of vital services, ensuring patients continue to receive healthcare in their community.”
Dr Tracey Gillies, NHS Lothian medical director added: “Over the last three years, we have been working to reduce the use of agency staff.”