Shropshire hospitals spending millions on temporary staff

SaTH has spent between £6 million and £7 million on locum doctors annually for the past five years, a Freedom of Information request has disclosed.

Bosses at the trust say the challenges of operating on two major sites in Shrewsbury and Telford had created the need to bring in temporary staff.

They have spoken in recent months of the challenge of staffing accident and emergency departments at both Telford's Princess Royal Hospital and Royal Shrewsbury Hospital. Ophthalmology services have also been hit by staff shortages.

Medical director Edwin Borman said: "We provide care on two acute hospital sites with some duplication of services between these. We've had a number of workforce challenges which has been reflected in its need for locum doctors. We've worked hard on recruitment and the retention of staff and we're a success in many specialisms."

The hospital trust says it is aiming to invest more money into junior doctors and health care professionals, in an attempt to cut these costs. They have seen a recent peak in attendances at the hospital, and don't wish to compromise patient care.

The FOI, submitted by the BBC, reveals that hiring agency staff comes at a high cost, with one locum doctor in the Midlands admitting being paid £344 per hour, double the pay of regular NHS doctors.

The amount spent on contracted agency medical staff across the West Midlands, has doubled in the past five years, according to the figures, with more than £69 million being spent between 2012-2013, a figure that has risen £132 million spent between 2016-2017, equating to an expenditure of half a billion pounds in a period of five years.

The difficulties experienced in Shropshire are mirrored in other hospitals across the West Midlands.

Dudley Group NHS Trust director Andrew Mcmenemy said: "Last year saw a significant rise in attendances at the hospital and capacity issues were quite difficult. It is about making sure that what we have is the right number of medical staff to meet the demands. We will never compromise patient safely."

In a response to these findings, The Department of Health says it saved £700 million nationally last year on agency staff spending and is looking to further reduce the use of agency staff in UK hospitals. It hopes to see trusts working more closely together to reduce the use of bank staffing and to become more efficient.