New figures reveal the NHS’s hefty spending on temporary staff, highlighting ongoing staffing challenges in Scotland’s healthcare system.
Edinburgh: The NHS has really been racking up the bills lately. Since 2019, they’ve spent over £900 million on temporary staff like locum consultants and agency nurses. That’s a lot of cash!
These figures came to light thanks to Scottish Labour, who got the info through a freedom of information request. They say this shows just how much pressure the health service is under. But the Scottish Government argues that this spending is just a small part of the overall £10 billion staffing costs.
Breaking it down, about £521 million went to consultants, while nurses accounted for around £400 million. Interestingly, spending on nurses was pretty steady at first but then shot up, nearly quadrupling from £39.7 million in 2019-20 to a whopping £152 million in 2023-24.
Jackie Baillie, the deputy leader of Scottish Labour, pointed out that this spending shows the NHS is struggling. She blames the SNP for not being able to recruit and keep enough frontline staff, which is costing taxpayers a fortune.
She believes Scotland’s NHS needs a solid 10-year workforce plan to train more medical and nursing staff and better support those already in the system. It sounds like she thinks a change is needed!
On the flip side, a spokesperson for the Scottish Government said that while the NHS’s staffing pay bill is massive, the money spent on agency staff is just a tiny fraction of that. They emphasized that temporary staff are sometimes necessary to keep services running smoothly, especially during unexpected absences or busy times.
They also mentioned that they’re looking for ways to reduce reliance on agency staff while still ensuring quality patient care. It’s a tricky balance, for sure!
