NHS spent £47m on agency staff in three years

CASH strapped NHS Dumfries and Galloway has spent £47 million on agency staff over the past three years, it has been revealed.

The eye-watering figure underlines serious medical staffing issues within the region – and the extortionate costs of relying on private agencies.

Following a freedom of information request, health chiefs confirmed they had spent tens of millions to plug hospital vacancies and deal with excessive patient demand.

Last year, the figure was £13.74 million, in 2023/24 it was £17.45 million, and in 2022/23 a total of £16.02 million.

This comes at a time when the region’s Integrated Joint Board – which oversees community health and social care – is faced with making drastic cuts to services in order to claw back a £58 million budget deficit.

In NHS Scotland, bank medical staff are the first port of call for additional workers – and are directly engaged by a specific health board.

However, due to this region’s long-standing issues with medical vacancies, health bosses have no alternative but to turn to agency staff supplied by external private firms.

These offer high flexibility – but are charged at high rates.

Agency locum consultants alone cost NHS Dumfries and Galloway just under £8.5m last year, while locum doctors working on temporary contracts cost just over £2 million.

In each of the last three years, the health board has relied upon five different agencies to supply additional critical staff.

Last year, this is how much private medical agencies earned from NHS Dumfries and Galloway:

Litmus – £10,932,719 million; Retinue – £2,743,051 million; Pulse Healthcare Limited – £643,628; The Scottish Nursing Guild – £371,832; KPMG LLP – £278,477.

Meanwhile, for bank staff support NHS Dumfries and Galloway spent an additional £8.65 million last year, £7.7 million in 2023/24, and £6.35 million in 2022/23.

A spokesman for NHS Dumfries and Galloway said: “The reduction in agency spend from £17.45m in 2023/24 to £13.7m in 2024/25 reflects increased permanent recruitment, including filling hard-to-recruit posts, and a deliberate move to use bank staff instead of higher-cost agency staff.

“Further savings have been achieved by employing some locum staff directly and keeping agency rates within nationally agreed limits.

“Based on current workforce plans, agency expenditure is expected to reduce again in 2025/26, subject to service demand.

“The increase in bank staff spend reflects this planned shift away from agency use. Bank staff are used to cover vacancies at no additional cost compared to permanent staff. They are also required to support services during periods of high activity, high bed occupancy and increased patient need.

“Overall, NHS Dumfries and Galloway continues to strengthen its workforce in a way that delivers better value for money while maintaining safe, high-quality care for local communities.”