Bolton: NHS trust pays nearly £7M for private agency doctors

The figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show that £6.8million was spent on agency doctors, who are brought in as cover when there aren’t enough staff on shift, usually at a far higher price than full time health service workers.

Bolton South East MP Yasmin Qureshi, who’s constituency includes Royal Bolton Hospital in Farnworth, says that this shows the NHS all across the country is in the grip of a ‘crisis.’

She said: “Hospitals across Britain are in crisis.

“That our own NHS trust in Bolton is forced into paying exorbitant agency fees sends a clear message that after 12 years of mismanagement by the Conservatives, our NHS is creaking at the hinges, ready to burst entirely.”

Yasmin Qureshi MP says she believes this shows the NHS is in 'crisis' (Image: Office of Yasmin Qureshi MP)

This comes with the NHS under huge pressure, with staff shortages and increased waiting times reported across the board.

Bolton’s spending on agency workers was mirrored all over the country where a total of £3billion was paid to agencies who provide doctors and nurses at short notice, an increase of 20 per cent compared to the year before.

Trusts around the country spent a further £6billion on bank staff, when NHS staff are paid to do temporary shifts, taking the total spent on additional staff to around £9.2billion.

In September of last year, figures obtained by The Bolton News under the Freedom of Information Act found that Bolton NHS Foundation Trust had paid £5million in agency fees over the preceding 12 months.

One agency in particular had been able to charge fees of more than £1000 on average for a single nursing shift.

The agencies were used to plug gaps as the NHS struggles with a record 133,000 vacancies, including 9,000 for doctors now unfilled.

Ms Qureshi claims that her party aims to reduce the health service’s dependence on agencies like these by funding the training of more health professionals.

She said: “Labour’s plan to scrap non-domiciled tax status to fund the largest increase in medical school places, and train large numbers of nurses, would go a long way to addressing this crisis.”

Rishi Sunak says his government is putting 'record sums' into the NHS to tackle problems like these (Image: PA)

But in a recent speech, Conservative prime minister Rishi Sunak said his government was committed to investing in the NHS.

He said: “At a time when we’re putting record sums into the NHS and recruiting record numbers of doctors and nurses, healthcare professionals are still unable to deliver the care they want and patients aren’t receiving the care they deserve.

“So we need to recognise that something has to change.

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“That doesn’t mean structural reforms to the NHS – we will always protect the founding principle of an NHS free at the point of use.”

In Bolton, trust managers say that patients have to come first but they are working to try and avoid spending unnecessary amounts on agency staff.

Deputy chief executive and director of people James Mawrey said: “While we do everything we can to avoid unnecessary agency spend we will always prioritise the safety of our patients.”