Agency nursing cost shock for Shropshire hospitals
Shropshire's two main hospitals spent nearly half a million pounds on bank and agency staff in one month, new figures show.
In January, Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust spent nearly £470,000 on bank and agency staff at both the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford.
That was more than double the amount spent on agency staff between July and September 2012.
The figures have been revealed in the minutes of a meeting of the trust's board in February.
Speaking at February's meeting, Neil Nisbet, the trust's finance director, said: "Nurse agency costs in month amounted to £469,000 compared to an average of £185,000 for the period July – September 2012."
Mr Nisbet said pay spending above the hospital's budget had increased in three areas in January – in medicine, emergency and critical care and surgery.
Andy Rogers, a spokesman for the Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust, said the increased spending had come about due to the pressure on A&E which had resulted in more escalation beds being used.
He said: "During the winter period the trust used escalation beds on both hospital sites. This meant that at times more money was spent using bank and agency staff."
Escalation wards are opened to provide extra capacity during busy times. In January and February a total of 376 planned operations were cancelled at both hospitals.
And earlier this month, the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital declared 'major incident' status due to increased pressure on A&E on a single day.
Planned operations and outpatients appointments were cancelled as staff were redeployed to deal with emergency admissions.
During February's meeting, Mr Nisbet said that total pay spending in January had amounted to £17.2 million – exceeding the Trust's target of £17 million.
Earlier this week, bosses at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and the Princess Royal Hospital said emergency admissions had increased 'enormously' this year.
It came after it was revealed the two hospitals were facing an average shortage of 70 beds. But trust bosses said bringing more beds into both hospitals would not provide a 'sustainable solution' to the problem.
