Use of ‘off-contract’ health agency staff to end – Swann

The health service in Northern Ireland is to end the use of “off-contract” agency staff in a bid to reduce costs, Health Minister Robin Swann has said.

He announced that a new procurement process will be introduced to reduce soaring expenditure on agency staff.

Off-contract agencies are not covered by formal relationships with the health service and are therefore able to charge above contractually set prices for shifts.

The Department of Health said that between 2018/19 and 2021/22, expenditure on off-contract agency nursing staffing rose from £27 million to £101 million, accounting for 72.5% of all agency spend for this grouping.

Mr Swann said: “The severe financial pressures on our health and social care system are well-documented.

“While I will continue to relentlessly make the case for additional funding, I also have to ensure the monies we do have are used efficiently and effectively.

“Ending the use of off-contract agencies has been a major priority for me in that regard.

“Equally as important is the need to address the impact that large-scale agency use can have on the morale of our health service staff.

“Over-reliance on agency use has a negative impact on our workforce, placing additional pressures on them to support agency staff who are unfamiliar with systems and wards.

“This creates another pressure on the provision of safe and quality care.

“I fully recognise that the increase in agency use has been driven by service and staffing pressures, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic.”

The minister said a new health service procurement process will be launched in the coming days.

“Agencies who have remained outside contractual frameworks now have a clear choice,” he said.

“I would encourage them to work with us on a contractual footing – or face an end to their income from the health service and taxpayers.

“I look forward to moving forward collegiately with those agencies who opt in to the new contract.”

The new public procurement process for agencies providing nursing and midwifery staff will be launched by the health service’s Business Services Organisation (BSO).

The expectation is that those agencies which are successful in securing a place on the framework will start providing services in February 2023.

Procurements are also planned for the supply of medical and dental locum staff.

The department said there will be further work to bring to an end the use of social workers employed by recruitment agencies in trusts by June 2023.