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NHS trusts across England spent £3.2bn on agency staff between 2020 and 2022 to cover gaps in rotas and keep wards open, according to a new analysis by the Royal College of Nursing.
The RCN says if this money had been used to hire permanent staff, three quarters of nursing vacancies within the NHS would be filled.
Indeed, this money could cover the salaries of nearly 31,000 permanent full-time equivalent (FTE) nurses paid at the top of a Band 5 salary (£34,581).
It could have also trained over 86,000 new nurses. There are currently around 40,000 vacant nursing posts across NHS trusts in England.
NHS trusts spending more on agency staff than ever before
The figures are based on a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to NHS trusts across England. Of the 202 trusts the RCN contacted, 182 responded.
The analysis reveals that costs have spiralled in recent years, with trusts spending 63% more on agency staff in 2020 compared to 2022 (800m in 2020 vs £1.3bn in 2022).
Spending differed across regional areas, with trusts in London spending the most – £630m on agency staff – and the North of England spending the least – 109m across the three-year period.
RCN Chief Nurse Professor Nicola Ranger says this is down to poor government planning and underfunding of the NHS, which has forced trusts in each region to spend millions more than necessary.
Failing to act now will further deepen the workforce crisis
The RCN is now urging the government to give nurses a fair pay rise to ensure that new nurses join the NHS, and existing nurses stay.
The College point out a worrying trend in recent figures which shows that the number of people accepted onto nursing courses has dropped by 12%.
Prof Ranger said: “Ministers have got their priorities wrong – forcing trusts to spend billions on agency staff while they provide miserly funding for fair pay and nurse education.
“With cuts to nurse education and maintaining unfair pay levels, ministers are choosing to spend the money on much higher private agency bills instead, this is yet another false economy when it comes to NHS spending.
“This should act as a wake-up call. The government must give nursing staff and patients the investment and respect they deserve. Not acting now will mean even more patients on waiting lists and the crisis in the nursing workforce deepening further.”