Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Trust goes over budget on agency staff

Directors at Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which also runs Victoria Infirmary in Northwich and Elmhurst in Winsford, were given the trust’s latest financial figures 2018-19 at a meeting on Monday.

Between April and November, the trust spent £115.8 million on pay – £1.8 million more than it had planned to do so.

A report issued to the board said that agency spend was a major contributor to the cost – and that there is a ‘high risk’ that the trust could breach a £5.7 million cap on agency spend in 2018-19.

Dr Paul Dodds, medical director and deputy chief executive, told the board that the trust often faces difficulty in filling staff vacancies – but that it is working hard to cut agency spend.

He said: “Sometimes we get no applications, sometimes we will get one application and then they withdraw.

“I just want to assure the board that it is not for the want of trying. We are not sat here twiddling our thumbs.”

The report said that Mid Cheshire Hospitals overspent on agency staff alone by £687,000 between April and November 2018.

The trust which runs Victoria Infirmary, as well as Leighton Hospital and Elmhurst, will receive £1.6 million for the winter months

NHS regulators are clamping down on the use of ‘locum’ agency staff, who cost hospital trusts on average 20 per cent more than ‘bank staff’ – doctors and nurses who work at hospitals on a flexible basis.

A report issued at Monday’s board meeting said agency nurses were needed to cover Leighton’s escalation wards in the summer, while the trust also expects to employ high-cost agency doctors in the winter months.

Heather Barnett, director of workforce and organisational development, told the board work is under way to reduce the reliance on agency nurses – including a recruitment drive, additional training opportunities, and moving existing staff to other departments.

“There are some positive things happening to try and reduce that agency spend,” she added.