To fill the gaps in the nursing workforce, the use of staff from agencies has increased dramatically, rising to the equivalent of 1,741 WTE nursing and midwifery staff in 2022/23, up from 1,018 WTE in 2021/22. The cost in 2022/23 was a staggering £169.7m, up 91% from £88.8m the previous year. To put this in perspective, the agency spend two years ago was £39.3m.
Total spend on bank and agency staff combined was £447m in 2022/23, up 39% on the previous year.
Today also marks four years since Scotland’s safe staffing legislation was passed by the Scottish Parliament. The Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act has not yet come into force and the Scottish Government has committed to implementation next April. Ahead of this, RCN Scotland is calling for urgent action to tackle nursing vacancies. The Act provides tools to facilitate safe staffing levels across health and care, but its successful implementation relies entirely on retaining and recruiting more nurses.
Commenting on the figures, Eileen Mckenna, Associate Director, RCN Scotland, said:
“Thousands of registered nurses are missing from teams across Scotland, impacting on the safety and quality of patient care and putting even more pressure on staff who are already working extra unpaid hours to cover gaps and going home feeling that they are unable to provide the quality of care they want.
“To fill these gaps in the nursing workforce, the reliance on agency staff has increased dramatically, costing a staggering £170m last year. While some investment in bank and agency nursing will always be needed to cover unexpected events and ensure safe patient care, it is not the solution to the workforce crisis and the huge increase in spend is simply not sustainable.
“Our members find it shocking that the Scottish government would rather line the pockets of the private sector than invest in building and developing the nursing workforce within the NHS.
“This is clear evidence that the new Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce must deliver positive change to address persistently high nursing vacancies.
“The Taskforce must look at how Scotland can retain experienced nursing staff, develop new routes into the profession and ensure nursing is a career of choice once again. The Cabinet Secretary must prioritise the work of the Taskforce and see it through effectively to secure the nursing workforce Scotland needs.”
