Agency staff ban: ‘NHS has to get a grip’ on eye-watering spend
Posted 12 November 2024 - 14:30
Health and social care secretary will tell staff at NHS Providers conference that spending could be banned for agency staff covering posts in bands 2 and 3
NHS trusts could be banned from employing agency staff in lower bands, after one employer was charged £2,000 for a single nursing shift.
Health and social care secretary Wes Streeting is set to explain to staff at the NHS Providers conference in Liverpool on 13 November how trusts in England could be stopped from using agencies to cover staffing gaps for band 2 and 3 workers, which include healthcare assistants and domestic support workers.
NHS nurses who leave permanent jobs could also be prohibited from coming back into the health service via agencies, as part of efforts to cut the annual agency bill, which was £3 billion in 2023-24 and £3.5 billion the year before.
Agency ban will lead to greater fairness in workplace, says government
According to estimates from the British Nursing Association – one of the largest nursing agencies in the UK, employing more than 5,000 nurses – a band 5 agency nurse can expect to be paid up to £573.12 for a single hospital shift.
But the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said recruitment agencies have charged NHS trusts up to £2,000 for a single nursing shift owing to workforce shortages, made worse during strike action.
The DHSC argues that new rules banning some agency work would lead to greater fairness in the workplace by ensuring that staff carrying out the same role are not paid significantly different amounts.
‘We’re not going to let the NHS get ripped off any more’
Mr Streeting said: ‘We have got to get a grip on runaway spending and make sure every penny going to the NHS benefits patients. Changes will not be popular but it’s a case of reform or die.
‘For too long desperate hospitals have been forced to pay eye-watering sums of money for temporary staff, costing the taxpayer billions, and pulling experienced staff out of the NHS. We’re not going to let the health service get ripped off any more.
‘These changes could help keep staff in the NHS and make significant savings to reinvest in the front line.’
More scrutiny of senior managers’ performance
Under the plans, which will be open to consultation, ‘failing’ senior managers whose trusts run big deficits or offer poor services will be ineligible for pay rises.
Mr Streeting will explain that high-ranking managers such as chief executives will be affected if they fail to improve their organisation’s performance, prevent staff from carrying out their roles, or offer poor levels of patient care.
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