A petition calling on the government to stop its plan to ban agency staff from working for the NHS has attracted thousands of signatures.
Wes Streeting announced strict agency spending limits in November 2024, ordering NHS trusts to reduce their spending on agency staff by 30% in the short term. The health secretary claimed the savings would mean more money reinvested in the frontline and the wider NHS workforce.
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He recently went further, stating an ambition to eliminate the deployment of staff working through agencies altogether by the end of this parliament.
But the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) believes the plan will backfire as NHS workers who enjoy the flexibility of agency work turn their back on the health service.
It said the NHS is “sleepwalking” into a winter crisis that will be worse than usual.
Kate Shoesmith, REC deputy chief executive, said: “We are in a race against time to safeguard NHS workers’ rights to work flexibly through agencies and ensure there are enough nurses, doctors and support staff for the winter peak in demand for healthcare.
“The ban on agency working is a hammer-blow to thousands of NHS staff who rely on flexible work to balance caring responsibilities, health issues or education. Temporary work is a vital part of today’s labour market as a whole, and health is no exception. Agency staff help keep services running, especially in peak periods and amid worker shortages, and at a price that provides taxpayer value for money.”
The Department for Health and Social Care has claimed that recruitment agencies were charging NHS trusts up to £2,000 for a single nursing shift.
The REC said it is “deeply disappointed” that the DHSC has refused serious talks with talent and staffing firms to discuss the plans.
Shoesmith added: “The government is naïve if it thinks that all agency workers will transfer over to work in permanent positions and staffing levels will remain the same. If they had answered one of our many calls to work with them on a strategic workforce plan, they would be given the reality check they need.
“Instead, political ideology has prevented the government from a proper partnership that could have served the public much better. Everybody knows the NHS needs more people willing to work for it – and contingent labour has kept things going.”
The REC’s petition, Help protect agency work in the NHS, is part of its campaign to get the government to rethink its objective and pace to end agency use. It has attracted more than 3,600 signatures in just two weeks. The REC is also suggesting people write to their MP to express their concerns.
The REC has separately made DHSC, NHS England, framework providers and NHS professionals aware of its concerns about the policy and the lack of consultation with stakeholders. It wants the government to:
- publish a detailed plan and timeline for the future of agency working in the NHS
- share any directives that it or NHS England have issued to Trusts in relation to this policy
- advise the REC of any legal counsel taken by the health secretary or associated parties regarding the non-competitive public procurement system that is being created
- and to share any impact assessments on the potential impact of the agency staff ban on patient care and the overall cost it will add to the NHS.
Shoesmith concluded: “The government misleads the public when it suggests that staffing banks cost less than agency workers or that the NHS can eliminate agency staff while still reducing backlogs and maintaining safe staffing levels. If leaders view public-private partnerships as vital in other parts of the NHS, then they must also include workforce provision, which underpins the delivery of these plans.”
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