'NHS locum firms cash in on staff shortage and see incomes soar'
NHS locum firms cash in on staff shortage and see incomes soar, data shows
- Accounts reveal agencies supplying staff to NHS have seen their incomes rocket
- The NHS has more than 100,000 vacancies, including one in ten nursing posts
- Agencies Acacium Group and Medacs Healthcare receive hundreds of millions
Firms supplying agency staff to the NHS have seen incomes rocket, their accounts show.
A major drive to cut spending on temporary workers was launched in 2016 but outlays have steadily increased, reaching over £2.5billion a year.
The NHS has more than 100,000 vacancies, including one in ten nursing posts.
Acacium Group and Medacs Healthcare, two of the biggest suppliers of agency staff, both saw income soar last year.
Acacium reported turnover of £748million from temporary staffing in its financial year ending December 2021. This is up from £175million in 2020, analysis by the Health Service Journal showed.
Medacs saw its income rise 75 per cent – from £92million in 2020 to £161million in 2021. NHS England said it expected agency spending to fall by at least 10 per cent in 2022/23.
A spokesperson said: ‘NHS England has re-established controls on agency spending this year.
‘These controls sit alongside the wider agency rules, which include a cap on how much NHS providers can pay per hour for an agency worker and a requirement for agency staff to be procured only through approved framework agreements.’
A spokesman for the Acacium Group said: ‘Our staffing businesses were able to meet the unprecedented demand for workforce, and continue to do so.
‘Since the start of the pandemic the service provided by our last-minute staffing business has been in particularly high demand.’
Medacs’ annual accounts said the ‘shortage of healthcare professionals, particularly the huge number of nursing vacancies, will continue to drive demand in the UK’.
The Recruitment and Employment Confederation, which represents companies supplying temporary staff, said the move by NHS England risked shifts going uncovered, affecting patient safety.
Shazia Ejaz, director of campaigns at REC, said: ‘The REC has been calling for long-term workforce planning for the NHS as an essential starting point to tackle worker shortages.’
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