REC: Pay cut to agency nurses will only exacerbate staff shortages

The new NHS agency workers’ pay cap will only make the skills shortages worse, the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) warns.

Agency workers in the health care sector now face caps on hourly pay, after limits were introduced by Monitor and the NHS Trust Development Authority.  The cap will include agency doctors, nurses, and all other clinical and non-clinical staff.

It is hoped that the caps will encourage sustainable, long-term NHS staffing solutions. However, Janet Davies, CEO and General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, don’t think this is the best solution. She said: “This should be done … by training more nurses and paying them fairly. [However] the government must act now to protect patients.”

Tom Hadley, Director of Policy at the REC, said that the policy will only make current shortages worse. He explained: “We recognise that costs must be managed but the focus should be on better workforce planning as well as attracting and retaining more people to work in the NHS. These plans have not been thought through and are being rushed in at the worst time of year.