NHS agency staffing and the impact of recent interventions

NHS agency staffing and the impact of recent interventions Agency staff can attract high prices and be administratively expensive. Where agencies have significant market power, they may attract permanent NHS staff and put more pressure on local services. In the first six months of the 2015/16 fiscal year, year-on-year growth in agency spending reached 30 per cent and the total bill was on track to reach £4 billion. This briefing explores some of the reasons for this increase in the use of agency staff. Office of Health Economics