NHS bill for agency staff soars over £23m
SCOTLAND’S annual bill for agency nurses and midwives has soared six-fold in four years to more than £23million.
The increasing reliance of the NHS on private companies was revealed yesterday as the Scottish Government boasted the number of health service staff had hit a record high.
With agency nurses promised twice the wage of those working in the NHS, and hospitals facing a staffing crisis, the bill has soared by close to £7.5million in the past year alone.
In England, NHS trusts have been forced by the UK Government to cap the pay for agency staff at 55 per cent above what an NHS staff member would earn.
But Scotland has no such cap, with nurses able to earn as much as £80.50 an hour to run a hospital unit if they work on a public holiday. It is understood agency nurses south of the Border have expressed interest in moving to Scotland because there is no pay limit here, although it is unclear if wages for agency workers are higher.
The latest figures, from Information Services Division Scotland, show the bill for agency nurses and midwives hit £23,483,306 in 2015-16.
That is almost six times the cost reported only four years ago, when the bill to cover their pay and the agencies’ fees stood at £3.9million for the year.
It follows the announcement this week that the maternity unit at Montrose Royal Infirmary will be unable to take women in labour this summer because it does not have enough staff.
Scotland is short of more than 2,200 nurses and midwives, which is 3.6 per cent of the workforce, forcing expen- sive agency staff to be called in. Theresa Fyffe, Scotland director of the Royal College of Nursing, said: ‘While the number of nursing and midwifery staff in post increased slightly (0.3 per cent) over the last year, the vacancy rate also went up over the same period by a similar figure – from 3.3 per cent to 3.6 per cent in 2015-16.
‘This clearly shows that health boards continue to struggle to fill permanent nursing posts and are having to resort to expensive agency nurses to fill the gaps.
‘This is not sustainable. While some investment in agency nursing will always be needed to cover unexpected events such as sickness absence, and make sure there are enough nurses to provide safe care for patients, health boards cannot continue to ratchet up spending on agency nurses, which increased by £7.5million in the last year.’
Scottish Conservative health spokesman Donald Cameron said: ‘This is a clear indication that there are not enough staff to cover Scotland’s wards. For millions of hours to be covered by non-permanent members of staff is quite incredible.
‘It’s the Scottish Government’s responsibility to ensure the NHS is properly funded so it is properly staffed.’
But the Scottish Government yesterday put out a release stating that the number of staff working within the NHS had reached a record high, with almost 11,400 more full-time equivalent staff, excluding GPs and dentists, than in September 2006.
It said 99.6 per cent of all care is delivered by staff on NHS contracts.
Health Secretary Shona Robison added: ‘Earlier this year we launched an initiative to drive down the cost and use of temporary agency staff.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘We’re aware of the capped rates in NHS England and are monitoring its progress.’
‘Boards continue to struggle’