Rise in A&E locum spend set to continue unless NHS makes radical changes
14 January 2014
Spending on accident and emergency (A&E) locums is set to go on rising unless there are radical changes to the NHS, according to the managing director of medical recruiter Your World Recruitment Group.
Tue, 14 Jan 2014Spending on accident and emergency (A&E) locums is set to go on rising unless there are radical changes to the NHS, according to the commercial director of medical recruiter Your World Recruitment Group.
As figures obtained by the Labour party reveal that spending on A&E locums staff across the NHS rose from £51.6m in 2009-10 to £83.3m in 2012-13, a 60% increase, Greg Wood tells recruiter.co.uk that without change he can see only further rises.
The figures show that average A&E department is spending £750k annually for temporary medics, with one NHS trust, North-West London Hospitals, spending £4.3m. As spending spirals, some specialists are reportedly being paid £1.5k for a single shift.
Wood says in recent years his company has “definitely seen an increase in demand”.
“Demand is outstripping supply,” he continues, adding “unless there is radical change, either by regionalising A&E or changing the GP system to relieve the pressure on A&E, I can see nothing but an increase.”
Wood says one possible cause is the number of A&E doctors who are leaving the country due to the stress of the job, linked to tough targets.
Claire Billenness, MD of client solutions at Healthcare Locums, tells Recruiter: “You cannot just look at locum spend in isolation, you have to look at the context.”
Billenness says there are many factors behind the rise in use of locums in A&E departments. These include a lack of investment into the full-time consultant medical workforce, changes to GPs’ out of hours contracts, and hospital consultants not working weekends, all of which adds to the workload on A&E departments.
Immigration laws that make it “very hard” to bring in overseas specialists are also adding to the problems, she says.
“Locum staff are also being used to make up shortfalls in trusts’ substantive workforces,” adds Billenness.
Recruiter contacted North-West London Hospitals for comment, but it had not responded as recruiter.co.uk went to press.
As figures obtained by the Labour party reveal that spending on A&E locums staff across the NHS rose from £51.6m in 2009-10 to £83.3m in 2012-13, a 60% increase, Greg Wood tells recruiter.co.uk that without change he can see only further rises.
The figures show that average A&E department is spending £750k annually for temporary medics, with one NHS trust, North-West London Hospitals, spending £4.3m. As spending spirals, some specialists are reportedly being paid £1.5k for a single shift.
Wood says in recent years his company has “definitely seen an increase in demand”.
“Demand is outstripping supply,” he continues, adding “unless there is radical change, either by regionalising A&E or changing the GP system to relieve the pressure on A&E, I can see nothing but an increase.”
Wood says one possible cause is the number of A&E doctors who are leaving the country due to the stress of the job, linked to tough targets.
Claire Billenness, MD of client solutions at Healthcare Locums, tells Recruiter: “You cannot just look at locum spend in isolation, you have to look at the context.”
Billenness says there are many factors behind the rise in use of locums in A&E departments. These include a lack of investment into the full-time consultant medical workforce, changes to GPs’ out of hours contracts, and hospital consultants not working weekends, all of which adds to the workload on A&E departments.
Immigration laws that make it “very hard” to bring in overseas specialists are also adding to the problems, she says.
“Locum staff are also being used to make up shortfalls in trusts’ substantive workforces,” adds Billenness.
Recruiter contacted North-West London Hospitals for comment, but it had not responded as recruiter.co.uk went to press.
