London NHS trusts spend on agency staff increased 57 percent since 2020 in face of chronic staff shortages

The letters N, H and S on a paved floor — Photo by Nicolas J Leclercq on Unsplash

London’s NHS Trusts spending on agency staff has increased by 57 per cent since 2020, the cost of which could have paid the salaries of over 6,00 full time nurses for the capital.

That’s the conclusion of new analysis from the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) London, which reveals that hospitals across the capital have spent £630,474,376 on temporary nursing staff between 2020 – 2022 to plug chronic staff shortages.¹ This money could have paid the salaries of 6,077 full-time nurses each year in London.

The analysis is based on the findings from a Freedom of Information (FOI) request sent to NHS trusts across England. The findings show over £3 billion was spent on agency staff by hospitals in England to plug chronic staff shortages.

In London trusts, spending increased by 57 per cent in three years, going from £163,469,848 in 2020 to £256,841,966 in 2022. London had the highest spend on temporary agency nursing staff compared to any other region in England. London’s hospitals were forced into spending millions on temporary staff due to the longstanding nursing workforce shortages in the capital.

Royal College of Nursing Regional Director for London, Lisa Elliott, said: “The nursing workforce shortage in London is not new. The reality is that it has been building for several years, despite RCN London and our members raising the alarm with the city’s politicians for a number of years.

“It is placing significant pressure on London’s NHS leaders to keep services running against a backdrop of short staffing, rising waiting lists and demands to deliver further efficiency savings. Ultimately, it’s patients who will suffer.

“London is a fantastic city to live and work, but the reality is that nursing staff simply cannot afford to stay long term due to the high cost of living. It’s no surprise that hospitals in the capital are forced into spending millions on agency staff to fill rota gaps to be able to care for Londoners.”

Research by RCN London in 2020 showed that 57% of the city’s nurses said they were likely to leave the capital within the following five years because they simply couldn’t afford to live and work in the city. This risk of more nursing staff leaving has spiralled due to the continuing cost of living crisis in the capital, especially the impact of hikes in interest rates, rents and travel costs.

Nurse vacancy rates in London have been consistently higher than any other part of the country for several years. Currently, London’s NHS has over 10,000 vacant nurse posts. At the same time, the health system is desperately trying to get to grips with high waiting times while being told to be more productive and make cost efficiency savings.

Royal College of Nursing chief nurse Professor Nicola Ranger, said: “Ministers have got their priorities wrong – forcing trusts to squander billions on agency staff while they provide miserly funding for fair pay and nurse education.

“With cuts to nurse education and maintaining unfair pay levels, ministers are choosing to spend the money on much higher private agency bills instead, this is yet another false economy when it comes to NHS spending.

“This should act as a wake-up call. The government must give nursing staff and patients the investment and respect they deserve. Not acting now will mean even more patients on waiting lists and the crisis in the nursing workforce deepening further.”

No news is bad news

Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.

The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.

Choose the news. Don’t lose the news.

Monthly direct debit

Annual direct debit

£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. £50 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month's paper before anyone else. £84 annual supporters get a print copy by post and a digital copy of each month's before anyone else.