The NHS must “reform or die” after it was “forced” to spend £3 billion on agency workers last year, according to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.
The government and NHS England could ban trusts from using agencies to cover gaps in entry-level positions in a bid to cut costs and prevent staff getting paid significantly different amounts for working the same role.
Some agencies charged NHS trusts up to £2,000 for a single nursing shift, pushed up by demand to fill 113,000 staffing vacancies across the service.
The joint proposal would ban hiring entry level workers in band 2 and 3 through agencies, such as healthcare assistants and domestic support workers.
Agencies could also be banned from re-introducing NHS workers who leave permanent jobs, to discourage staff from resigning and then immediately offering their services back through a recruitment agency.
Pay in the NHS has been a long-standing issue for full-time workers, highlighting why some may choose to leave and re-enter under a more lucrative pay deal.
An ex-NHS nurse told the Daily Express she now gets paid twice the amount for a part-time nurse role in Canada as she did in the UK in a full-time position.
She said: “You’re just worked to the ground. You don’t get your breaks, you do long hours, you don’t get paid enough.
“You constantly have agency workers to fill in shifts. They are expensive as an incentive to take up a shift because there’s nobody who wants to, because you’re so burnt out.”
She said her hospital didn’t rely on agency workers for the two years she lived in London before the pandemic: “They paid their own nurses to pick up overtime, and the incentives were huge. I guess it kind of defeats the point, because you’re paying you’re own nurses a lot of money.”
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting believes this could keep workers in the NHS.
He said: “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.
“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.”
While the NHS paid £3 billion for temporary staff, director of the Integrated Care Services Network Sarah Walter spoke about “worrying” reports of newly registered nurses struggling to find roles in their local area.
Speaking about the reports, Walter said: “They suggest that local NHS leaders are already making very difficult decisions over how to balance their books.”
Julian Kelly, NHS Chief Financial Officer, said: “The NHS is committed to ensuring every penny of taxpayer money is used wisely to the benefit of patients and to ensure fairness for our permanent staff.
“While agency spend is at a record low, with trusts on track to save £1 billion over 2 years, we want to go further still.
“That’s why the NHS, working alongside the government and providers, will launch a consultation with a view to stop using agencies to fill entry level posts, building on the approach we have successfully imposed for administrative and estates staff.”