Nottingham University Hospitals has reduced its reliance on agency staff – cutting the annual bill by more than £16 million.
Spending on agency workers across the Queen’s Medical Centre and Nottingham City Hospital reached £11.4 million between April and November – £16.4 million lower than the same period the year before.
Reports show that, in the month of November, the trust which runs the hospitals spent £1.2 million on agency staff – 1.3 per cent of its total pay bill for the month.
In reports to the hospital trust’s board, the drop was described as a “significant improvement compared to the same period last year”, as managers try to ensure they keep agency spending below national NHS targets.
The £11.4 million spend is £12.8 million below a national NHS agency spending cap target.
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Paul Matthew, Chief Financial Officer at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “As part of our wider plan to manage financial challenges in the Trust, we have undertaken a significant piece of work to further improve our substantive recruitment and make better use of our local bank of staff.
“This has enabled us to reduce agency usage, and we have worked on agency pricing to move to lower-cost tiers, making a significant saving for the Trust.”
In November, the Government said hospital trusts could be banned from using agencies to cover gaps in entry-level positions, and agencies could be banned from reintroducing NHS workers who leave permanent jobs.
The NHS was forced to spend £3 billion on agency staff last year, the Government says, with some costs rising partly due to strike action.
Under plans to be put forward for consultation, NHS trusts could be banned from using agencies to hire temporary entry-level workers, such as healthcare assistants and domestic support workers.
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