There are demands for ministers to address the persistent shortage of staff within the NHS, as data shows that the cost of hiring temporary frontline employees has risen to over £10 billion annually.
Hospitals and GP surgeries across the UK are paying a record £4.6bn for agency personnel and another £5.8bn for doctors and nurses on staff to do extra “bank” shifts to plug gaps in rotas.
The shortage of staff has become a common issue, leading to high costs for employment agencies in all four countries to hire temporary workers. Only in England, the amount spent on agency staff, especially nurses and GPs, has increased from £3 billion to £3.5 billion in the past year, a 16% increase.
The opposition’s health spokesperson, Wes Streeting, stated that the NHS staffing crisis, which has been overlooked by Conservative governments for years, has forced hospitals to spend exorbitant amounts on agency staff. This includes hiring doctors for single shifts at a cost of over £5,000.
The Royal College of Nursing expressed concern over the excessive amount of money spent on agency nurses. General Secretary Pat Cullen suggested that it would be more cost-effective to hire permanent nursing staff rather than relying on temporary workers. Currently, there are 42,306 unfilled nursing positions in the NHS in England.
The cost of hiring bank staff, who work additional shifts at their own or a nearby hospital for extra income, has increased significantly compared to agency spending for the NHS. In England, it has tripled from £1.8bn in 2015/16 to £5.8bn in 2022/23, as reported by healthcare data experts LaingBuisson.
LaingBuisson discovered that the spending on temporary workers, including agency and bank staff, has significantly increased in recent years due to the impact of Covid. This is due to the NHS already being understaffed and facing increased demand for care, as well as political pressure to reduce the backlog.
Numerous aspects of the healthcare system, such as emergency departments, prenatal care, general practitioner offices, and critical care units, are facing significant and persistent challenges due to a shortage of staff. This shortage is resulting in hospitals having to reschedule surgeries, postpone treatments, and even induce labor for expectant mothers.
“The amount of money being allocated to temporary staff by the NHS has significantly increased in recent years,” stated Tim Read, Director of Research and Content at LaingBuisson.
In 2015/16, the NHS in England implemented stricter measures to limit the employment of agency staff, resulting in a decrease in spending from £3.63bn to £2.38bn in 2019/20. However, this trend has since reversed, with the amount increasing to £3.46bn in 2022/23, according to the company’s findings.
According to our research, the expenditure on temporary agency workers has significantly increased. The funds allocated for agency staff via recruitment agencies have drastically risen in the past two years,” stated Read.
“Including the expenses for bank employees, the total expenditure on non-permanent staff in the NHS is projected to exceed £10 billion in 2022/23.”
According to recent findings by the Labour party, trusts in England are shelling out as much as £5,234 to employ a temporary doctor and up to £2,140 for a temporary midwife to cover one shift. The Northern Care Alliance, located in Greater Manchester, has spent a total of £21 million on agency doctors and £16.7 million on agency midwives for the fiscal years 2021/22 and 2022/23, respectively.
“These expenses on agency personnel are truly remarkable considering the large number of unfilled positions. The numbers simply don’t make sense,” remarked Cullen. She suggests that it would be more economical to improve the National Health Service’s hiring and retaining of nurses by offering better pay.
According to a report from the Health Service Journal in October 2022, companies like Acacium Group and Medacs Healthcare have experienced a significant increase in revenue due to the increasing dependence of the NHS on their supply of healthcare workers.
According to NHS England, health trusts are currently allocating less funds towards agency staff compared to previous years, as well as a smaller percentage of their overall budget for this year. However, specific numbers were not provided to support these statements.
LaingBuisson’s data reveals that in 2022/23, the NHS in England allocated £3.46bn towards agency workers, an increase of £471m from the previous year’s budget of £2.99bn. The proportion of the total annual expenditure of £9.3bn on temporary staff that was dedicated to hiring agency personnel also saw a slight rise during this period.
A representative from NHS England stated that, despite facing high demand and unusual levels of work stoppage, the organization has managed to decrease its expenditure on agency employees, both in terms of total amount and proportionally, during this fiscal year.
The NHS aims to decrease their dependence on agencies in the future by educating and retaining a larger number of their own staff, as outlined in the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan.
According to Read, the NHS cannot assume that the plan will successfully generate a significant increase in domestic staff by 2038. In order for this to occur, politicians will need to make substantial investments and demonstrate dedication over multiple election periods.
The large cost for temporary staff was attributed by NHS leaders to some extent to strikes carried out by NHS employees.
According to Saffron Cordery, the deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, the NHS often has to depend on agency and bank employees to fill staffing shortages due to high demand for services and limited budgets. This is a common issue faced by health service trusts in England.
She stated that trusts are making every effort to control agency expenses and costly overtime payments. However, in addition to current difficulties, repeated industrial strikes are posing a challenge in controlling staff pay increases.
Furthermore, the trusts are dedicated to fulfilling Rishi Sunak’s commitment to decrease waiting times in the NHS, which leads them to work tirelessly. This may require the creation of extra shifts that require proper staffing, according to her statement.
Source: theguardian.com
