Wes Streeting accused of issuing ‘misleading’ plan on NHS staffing
Health secretary Wes Streeting has been accused of issuing “misleading information” on staffing practice at the NHS, with plans to end the use of agencies by 2030 a “short-sighted” move that could push up costs for the taxpayer.
Streeting today unveiled Labour’s 10-year plan for the NHS focussed on rolling out weight-loss drugs, reducing people’s reliance on hospitals and fewer staff required to work in healthcare than previously expected.
But Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) chief executive Neil Carberry has hit out at Streeting’s NHS blueprint for claiming staff banks – entities largely managed by trusts that allow healthcare professionals to take on temporary shifts at times of high demand – were cheaper than using agencies in the private sector to fill shortages.
In its 143-page plan for health, officials confirm that the NHS will take a “concerted effort” to transition away from using staff agencies, saving as much as £1bn over the next five years and improving the quality of care patients receive.
Carberry said banks were “generally more expensive” than agencies used by the NHS, adding: “We know that good agencies offer better compliance, safety, and cost control than less regulated alternatives.
“Trust leaders know agency needs to be a well-controlled part of the mix – it is time for the government to start dealing in realities.
“It is misleading for the Department of Health and Social Care to claim that staffing banks are cheaper than employing agency workers and that the NHS can eliminate deploying agency staff and still reduce backlogs with safe staffing levels.”
Internal research showed that the hourly cost of a staff from an agency can be up £12 less in London, which would mean staff taken from banks could cost up to £30,850 extra a year for an NHS trust.
Carberry said staff shortages across the health system had been in part due to the failure to retain permanent staff and recruit new workers, which had the effect of discouraging health units from using “politically disfavoured” agencies.
“We need a sensible partnership that gets the balance right between permanent staff being the backbone of the service and agency and bank staff being there to fill gaps when needed at reasonable rates.
“If private-public partnerships can be achieved elsewhere in the NHS then staffing which is integral to the success of this plan should not be excluded from a similar arrangement.”
Wes Streeting defends public sector health service
Carberry called for a meeting to be held between industry leaders and government officials from the DHSC and the Treasury to discuss staffing problems within the NHS.
Several business leaders at recruitment agencies said workers would leave the UK health system if agency work was denied, with firms feeling “unfairly scapegoated” for NHS problems.
“Internal hiring and bank recruitment can take weeks or months due to administrative bottlenecks and the well-known challenges of attracting permanent staff, whereas agencies can often cover shifts within hours or days,” said Hannah Ahmed, chief executive of HG Group.
Earlier on Thursday, Wes Streeting said Labour rejected criticism from lobby groups and researchers claiming that the NHS was “too expensive” or “inferior to the market”.