A committee of MPs last week criticised the National Health Service for still using too many temporary nurses.

Patient safety is also being put at risk with two-fifths of temporary staff not receiving mandatory basic life support training, the Commons Public Accounts Committee said.

In 2001 the Department of Health said that an expected growth in the NHS workforce would lead to a significant reduction in demand for temporary staff.

But in 2005 spending on temporary nurses was still as high as £1bn (Recruiter, 21 March).

Conservative MP Edward Leigh said: "What is worrying is that in practice both the use of temporary nurses by the NHS and spending on them are still running at very high levels."

The Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) said it was leading a “sustained counter-attack”  on behalf of much maligned agency workers following  the PAC report. Peter Cullimore, Chair of the REC’s Nursing & Social Care Sector Group, says:  “Temporary staff provide a vital front line service within the NHS. The cost is made up of staff wages and PAYE, and only a small proportion made up of the commission charges by agencies for providing the crucial service of placing highly skilled healthcare workers into key positions often at very short notice.

“Recruitment agencies and temporary workers themselves are tired of being seen as a drain on resources when the reality is that the NHS could not function without the presence of this pool of highly skilled and highly motivated flexible workers”.

Tom Hadley (pictured), REC director of external relations, says: “As taxpayers, we all want to see value for money in public expenditure as well as an effective service for patients. Better workforce management that harnesses and monitors the benefits of a flexible workforce is crucial.

“It is a shame that discussions on temporary staff tend to focus purely on the cost rather than on the vital contribution that flexible workers make. It is opportune that the PAC Report was published during National Temporary Workers Week which is an opportunity for recognising this contribution to all sectors of the UK economy and public services – including the NHS.”

 “To claim that temporary staff pose a safety risk is an absolute nonsense and we know that in many ways temporary staff are actually more effectively vetted than staff who have been working within the NHS for years,” he added.