This story was first published in digitalhealth.net
NHS spending on agency midwife staff doubles, RCM reports
The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) has warned that the NHS in England has spent £25 million on agency midwives in 2015, more than double the figure spent in 2013.
The RCM compiled the data by submitting a series of Freedom of Information requests to around 123 NHS trusts in England. The data revealed that 46 had used agency midwives last year to fill gaps on hospital rotas.
It found the total spending in 2015 on agency midwives, overtime and the NHS's flexible ‘bank’ midwives was £72.7 million.
The report highlighted that on average, agency midwives were paid around £41 per hour, half of which went to the agency.
Jon Skewes from the RCM, said: "An over-reliance on temporary staff is clearly more expensive than employing the correct number of permanent staff and needs to be corrected sooner rather than later."
A spokesman for NHS Improvement maintained that trusts had made good progress and saved over £600 million on agency staff since last year.
They added: “We are committed to helping the NHS cut the cost of agency midwives and all agency staff, so that patients get the right care, from the right staff, at the right time.”
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