Agency staffing costs in health service should be cut, says health minister

The health minister has announced plans to reduce money spent on agency staffing in the health service.

Robin Swann said he also wanted to eliminate the use of off-contract agencies.

From 2018/19 to 2021/22 expenditure on off-contract agency nursing staffing rose from £27m to £101m.

Mr Swann said he would continue to "make the case for additional funding" but said he must ensure it is used "efficiently and effectively."

Off-contracts are contracts with agencies who do not have formal contracts with the health service, similar to freelancing.

They do not have set rates and generally cost the health service more.

Reacting to the minister's statement, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said it welcomed any measures to offset agency costs as long as there was no impact on patient care.

The college said it believed if its workforce was recognised and valued through fair pay, terms and conditions many would not look for agency work.

The framework, which will be organised by the business services organisation, will contain a list of pre-qualified suppliers who can be approached for work.

The Department of Health said ending off-contract agency use and reducing overall agency spend "won't happen overnight".

The procurement process is to be launched in the next few days for agencies who wish to provide nursing and midwifery agency staff.

Mr Swann also said "overreliance" on agency use had a negative impact on workforce and placed additional pressures on them to support agency staff who were unfamiliar with systems and wards.

The Department of Health said this set up created another pressure on the provision of safe and quality care.

The announcement was made as the first group of students graduated with a masters in professional nursing at Queen's University Belfast.

The latest figures from the Department of Health show there are 2,493 nursing vacancies across health and social care.

The masters programme, which is the first of its kind on the Island of Ireland, provides a new route for graduates to become registered nurses in two years.

It was developed and co-produced by a range of health professionals including GPs, carers, patients, Queen's students and the Department of Health.

The places are commissioned by the Department of Health with no fees for the students and a bursary is also provided.

Students have career options in four fields of nursing including adult; children and young people's nursing, mental health and learning disability nursing.

Chief nursing officer Maria McIllgorm congratulated the students and thanked them for their "valued contribution to frontline services during the pandemic."

The RCN recently balloted its members on strike action, it follows a similar move across the UK.

In a statement the college said the real issue that need to be addressed was how nurses were recruited and retained a sustainable nursing workforce.

"This includes the need to pay nurses fairly. In recent years, feeling undervalued and the increasing stress in many workplaces has led nursing staff to leave the health service to work for agencies where they are getting paid more for less responsibility," it said.

"The RCN is clear that a robust retention strategy, alongside fair pay for nursing must form part of any strategy to try and resolve these issues.

"This needs to be sufficient to offset the pay differential that exists between agencies and private health care providers, and the health service.

"Working in the health service needs to become a more attractive prospect for nurses."