Wales ‘displaying a dangerous and growing reliance’ on agency nurses

The NHS in Wales could move to a model in which most or all nursing care is outsourced to private companies, if its increasing reliance on agency staff continues, a union report has claimed.

According to the Royal College of Nursing, the Welsh health service risks moving to a situation where it no longer directly employs staff to provide patient care. NHS Wales spent between £133m and £140m on agency nursing during 2021-22, based on different freedom of information (FOI) requests and official figures, the RCN’s report suggested.

RCN Wales said, “If this trend continues, Wales will move to a situation where NHS Wales no longer directly employs staff to provide patient care and instead moves to a model in which most or all nursing care is outsourced to private companies.”

Read more

Source: Nursing Times, 4 December 2022