Marvin OnumonuNearly £1bn has been put back into NHS frontline services after a Government crackdown on temporary staffing agencies.
The Department of Health and Social Care set strict agency spending limits last November, with trusts told to cut agency staff spend by 30% so more funds could be invested in patient care and staff pay.
Latest figures showed agency staff spending dropped by almost £1bn in 2024/25.
NHS trusts had previously spent £3bn on agency staff in 2023/24, with agencies charging up to £2,000 for a single nursing shift due to 113,000 vacancies across the service.
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said: “The taxpayer has been footing the bill for rip-off agencies for too long – while patients have languished on waiting lists and demoralised staff faced years of pay erosion.
“That’s why we are pledging to eliminate this squander, and through our Plan for Change we are making major progress and seeing a radical reduction in costs.
“We’re already backing our health workers with above-inflation pay rises and now, nearly £1 billion is being reinvested back to the frontline, getting patients off waiting lists and putting money back into our workforce’s pocket.”
Elizabeth O’Mahony, chief financial officer at NHS England, said: “The NHS is fully committed to making sure that every penny of taxpayers’ money is used wisely to the benefit of patients and the quality of care they receive.
“Our reforms towards driving down agency spend by nearly £1 billion over the past year will boost frontline services and help to cut down waiting lists, while ensuring fairness for our permanent staff.”
Nicola McQueen, CEO at NHS Professionals, said: “We strongly welcome today’s bold and progressive workforce policy announcement from the Secretary of State to significantly reduce external agency spending and put more investment back into patient care.
“NHS Professionals was created with the core purpose of reducing the NHS’s reliance on expensive external agencies.
“NHS Bank services are transforming workforce deployment, boosting productivity, and driving substantial cost reduction across the NHS.”
McQueen added: “Last year we displaced over £680 million of external agency fees across NHS Trusts and healthcare organisations, providing more than 40 million hours of patient care.
“We look forward to working closely with our NHS client Trusts and partners to deliver even more savings across the NHS.”
