Health secretary vows to use own bank of nurses before agency staff

Health and Social Secretary Matt Hancock has vowed to reduce NHS spending on agency staff, adding that this is ‘demoralising for workers.

Although a lot of effort has been made in reducing the numbers of agency staff used, Mr Hancock said that there was further work to be done. He added that the NHS’s own bank system works efficiently and is better value for money.

Mr Hancock announced to the recent NHS Providers conference “I think that the bank system work pretty well but I have been absolutely shocked by the different levels of use of agency.

“In some trusts there is no agency at all, I think that’s terrific, then I see some trusts having to use agency.

“But when the bank is available, which is much better value for money, that is difficult to justify.

“We have also got to remember that agency hit morale.

“If you are working at 3am on a nurse station and the person next to you is in this hospital for their first time and therefore find it very hard to do as good a job, and you’ve been there for years and they’re being paid several times more than you for the same shift, and they don’t have the responsibilities and can walk out of the door if it all gets a bit much – that is demoralising.”

The latest NHS Improvement figures show that agency spend in the last financial year was £2.4 billion, which was down from £3.6 billion the previous year, when a cap was introduced on thee costs of private agency workers.

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Posted by Tony May, Partner/head of Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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