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Agency charging hospitals nearly £2,000 for specialist nurse shift
(HTM) Source
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**An agency providing last-minute freelance nurses to NHS hospitals is
routinely charging up to £2,000 a shift,â¯BBC News has discovered.**
Glen Burley, chief executive of an NHS trust, said that Thornbury
Nursing Services is targeting areas in England where nurses are in
short supply.
He says it is "profiteering" from an overstretched NHS, but Thornbury
says it offers a valuable, flexible service.
The government says new measures will end the use of expensive
agencies.
However, Labour has said the high costs are a result of the
"Conservatives' failure to train enough nurses over the past 14
years".
Under NHS rules, hospital managers are obliged to use staffing
agencies that work within an agreed framework, with a limit or cap on
how much should be paid.
But when last-minute essential cover is needed, trusts may use off-
framework agencies, such as Thornbury. These are not legally obliged
to abide by pre-agreed pay scales.
Workload pressures in the NHS and a desire for more flexibility over
shifts are thought to be driving more nurses to work for such
agencies, which tend to pay the people on their books more while also
taking a payment for themselves.
BBC News has discovered Thornbury charges almost £2,000 for a 12-hour
bank holiday shift by a specialist paediatric nurse - an area of
expertise where there are known staff shortages. Of that, BBC News
calculates the nurse receives about £1,050 - meaning nearly £800
goes to the agency.â¯
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