The staggering amount spent on agency nurses to keep the Welsh NHS running

[Northerner]

Nearly £70m was spent on agency nurses last year to keep the Welsh NHS running - the highest amount on record, it has been revealed.

A Freedom of Information (FOI) request obtained by WalesOnline showed that Wales' health boards forked out £69.04m on agency nurses between them in 2019.

That was up from £59.1m in 2018, £52.4m in 2017 and £54.6m in 2016.

Hywel Dda University Health Board, which covers Pembrokeshire , Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion, spent the most of any health board last year (£15.1m), followed by Betsi Cadwaladr UHB (£13.8m), and Cwm Taf Morgannwg UHB (£11.8m).

Agency nurses are often brought in by health boards across Wales to fill gaps in rotas due to high vacancy rates or sickness levels.

The staggering amount spent on agency nurses to keep the Welsh NHS running

Agency nurses are often brought in by health boards to fill gaps in rotas due to high vacancy rates or sickness levels

www.walesonline.co.uk

 

[Bruce Stephens]

And, as usual, the article fails to give any useful context. £70m is bigger than last year, but how surprising is it? How much is spent on permanent (non-agency) nurses? (The increase year on year looks significantly larger than inflation and it's only a couple of years, so I can forgive not bothering with that.)

 

[mikeyB]

Nor a comparison with NHS England or Scotland. I noted one or two agency nurses during my recent admission to hospital.

 

[Abi]

I suspect it is not just about rates of pay.
As a GP I much more enjoy being in a salaried post than locuming- due to continuity and establishing good relationships with practice staff
I just wonder if toxic working culture, toxic management, unsafe staffing ratios etc mean that they decide they will work intensively for higher pay but working less shifts to compensate as both less need if more money and also to rebalance life due to work stress.
Would be much better to persuade people to take on permanent roles by improving working environment and morale, more supportive management etc..