31.08.18
NHSI calls for ‘bank first’ approach to save £500m in agency staff costs this year
Cutting agency staff could free up to £480m to reinvest into NHS services and improve patient care, NHS Improvement (NHSI) has said today.
In a statement released by the NHS regulator, temporary staff such as nurses and doctors supplied by agencies cost on average 20% more than those from the NHS’s own ranks despite performing the same roles.
Chief executive of NHSI Ian Dalton said: “Temporary agency workers play an important role in ensuring staffing numbers remain at a level that provides the best possible care for patients and gives them the opportunity to work flexibly. But an over-reliance on high-cost private agencies when there are other options available is not good for patients or for the NHS’s finances.”
The NHS has already managed to slash its spending on agency workers by £1.2bn, and last year spending on bank staff outweighed agency spending for the first time in several years. However, NHSI noted that the health service is still missing out on “significant potential savings,” which could improve care for patients.
NHSI called on all trusts to take a ‘bank first’ approach to recruiting temporary staff, and only use agencies as a last resort—setting all trusts in England a target of reducing their agency costs by 17% for 2018-19.
Deputy director of policy and strategy at NHS Providers Miriam Deakin said the reliance on agencies across the health and care system is “a sticking-plaster solution” for the growing number of vacancies across the NHS and the increase demand for services.
She added: “In the last financial year, trusts made significant reductions in the cost of agency staff for example by introducing new ways of rostering staff and encouraging greater use of bank shifts and staff.
“Temporary staff continue to play an important role in the NHS staffing mix, but we urgently need a long-term approach to staffing that is underpinned by a comprehensive workforce strategy.”
Danny Mortimer, chief executive of NHS Employers, said better use of technology has played an important part in delivering a significant reduction in agency spend in recent years whilst maintaining patient safety.
“Trusts will be interested in applying the new guidance from NHSI to deliver further improvements, but will also be clear that there will be situations where the use of an agency member of staff may be the only available option,” he added.
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