UK NHS to curb reliance on agency staff, save billions

The UK government proposes new measures that if implemented could generate substantial savings for the NHS, enhance the quality of care, and improve patient safety.

NHS mobile clinic | Wikimedia Commons

New Delhi: The Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England are proposing new measures to curb the NHS’s reliance on agency staff, aiming to save billions of pounds and improve patient care, a UK government release said. The plans, which will be open for public comment, include prohibiting NHS trusts from using agencies to hire temporary entry-level workers in band 2 and 3, such as healthcare assistants and domestic support workers.

Aimed to prevent NHS staff from resigning and then immediately offering their services back to the health service through a recruitment agency, the government and NHS England are setting out bold plans to reduce the NHS’s reliance on agency staff, as the cost to the health service of hiring temporary workers sits at a staggering £3 billion a year.

The move comes as the NHS grapples with a staffing crisis, with 113,000 vacancies across the service. Recruitment agencies have charged NHS trusts up to £2,000 for a single nursing shift, with costs further inflated by periods of strike action, the release said.

These proposals, if implemented, could generate substantial savings for the NHS, enhance the quality of care, and improve patient safety, the release said. The understaffed NHS was forced to spend £3 billion on agency staff last year.

Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said these steps are essential because hospitals have been forced to pay exorbitant sums for temporary staff, costing taxpayers billions of pounds and drawing experienced staff away from the NHS.

“For too long desperate hospitals have been forced to pay eye-watering sums of money on temporary staff, costing the taxpayer billions, and pulling experienced staff out of the NHS. We’re not going to let the NHS get ripped off anymore,” Streeting said. “Last month the Chancellor made a historic investment in our health service which must reform or die. I am determined to make sure the money is well spent and delivers for patients.”