A bill of almost £30 million has been racked up by NHS Forth Valley since 2021 on agency nursing staff, according to new figures.
The spending has been revealed as part of a Freedom of Information request from Scottish Labour which requested information on the total investment on both agency nursing and locum consultant staff every year since 2019.
It has highlighted a surge in the amount being shelled out by health board chiefs in the region on agency staff over the last three years, with the bill hitting £5.6 million in 2021/22, up to a tick over £10 million in 2022/23 and then just over £14 million in 2023/24.
In total, the bill from 2021 comes out to a whopping £29.8 million – with the picture for a portion of 2024 also unclear, with Forth Valley one of two health boards not to provide a figure for the period between April and September last year.
In addition to the agency nursing bill, NHS Forth Valley also rang up a bill of £5.7 million over the same period from 2021 on locum consultants – doctors paid to come in and work shifts in areas and times of demand.
An NHS Forth Valley spokesman said the health board was working hard to bring the spending on excess staff down and stressed it had recruited fresh numbers to release the pressure on the service.
The spokesman said: “We have significantly reduced nurse agency spend over the last year by over 65 per cent, and locum consultant spend has also reduced by over 40 per cent for the same period.
“Work continues to further reduce agency spend as part of our Financial Sustainability Action Plan. In addition, we have recruited over 100 newly qualified nurses which has resulted in a major reduction in the need for agency staff.”
Stirling and Strathallan Labour MP Chris Kane focused on the issues with recruitment of permanent nurses and doctors in the region – and claimed staff working in Forth Valley were left “demoralised” by an increasing workload.
Mr Kane said: “These figures show the NHS is under huge pressure because of the SNP’s failure to recruit and retain frontline staff.
“Staff are demoralised and exhausted, patients are frustrated and worried and the taxpayer is paying millions to bridge the gap. “Scotland’s NHS needs a new direction, and Scottish Labour is ready to deliver it, with a 10-year workforce plan that values our medical staff and meets the needs of patients.
“The UK Labour Government is hard at work delivering change in the NHS where it has responsibility – Scotland deserves a government that can do the same here.”