Agency staffing bill has soared

NHS Grampian’s spending on agency theatre nursing staff has soared from zero to more than £1million in the past five years, figures reveal.

The statistics, obtained by the Press and Journal, come just months after it emerged the health board had been forced to cancel scores of operations due to staffing issues.

In 2012-13, the board had spent no money on hiring agency nurses for its theatres.

But by 2014-15, this had risen to more than £178,000, and by 16-17 reached £1million.

Last night, north-east politicians said the “ballooning bill” was a major cause for concern.

“Clearly become overly reliant on agency staff”

Alexander Burnett, Scottish Conservative MSP for Aberdeenshire West, said :“NHS Grampian, like many other health boards, has clearly become overly reliant on agency staff .”

And Labour’s Lewis Macdonald urged the government to step in to ensure the board was not being forced to use vital funds to cover gaps in frontline staff.

At the beginning of the year it emerged the board had been forced to cancel 160 operations at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and Woodend Hospital between November and January.

When it comes to our health, it is hard to imagine anything more stressful than being admitted to hospital for major surgery – unless your operation is cancelled at short notice, that is.

Patients being treated byNHSGrampian are suffering from the emotions brought on by both scenarios. Just beforeandafter the startof this year, 160 operations were cancelled due to shortages in theatre staff.

Nowwe learn that hospital bosseshave spent £1million over the past year on plugging the gaps in theatre nursing cover by hiring temporaryNHSor private agency staff. Onthe face of it, this looks like smart practice by bosses to cover weaknesses in one of the most critical areas of hospital care.

However, it also papers over underlying weaknesses which seem to have worsened dramatically over the past 12 months. The replacements are probably on higher salary rates, due to the law of supply and demand.

However, this extra cost chips away at available funding resources, even although it might be a drop in the ocean as far as overall hospital budgets are concerned.

Postponed surgery is an additional cause of anxiety to patients. Of all the things going on in a hospital, serious operations must be prioritised. Therefore, bosses are correct to spend theirwayout of it in the interests of patient care and comfort.

That does not hide the fact that more work has to be done on the underlying staffing problem. Hiring temporary cover is a useful tool, but must not become a permanent crutch.

“Hiring temporary cover is a useful tool, but must not become a permanent crutch”