More than half (65%) of professional nurses in Sweden believe that employment agencies play an important role in the healthcare sector, according to a survey from Swedish labour market publication Future Career (Framtidens Karriär).

Henrik Bäckström, Director of the Swedish Staffing Association Bemanningsföretagen, commented: “Staffing companies provide solutions that allow the healthcare sector to function. When a surgical team is missing a specialist nurse or a medical centre doesn’t have enough nurses to open on a Monday morning, agency nurses often save the day.”

Half of respondents feel that those concerned about the rising cost of using agency nurses and other locum healthcare professionals are failing to see the big picture.

They should instead focus on the social impact of failing to provide adequate healthcare, which could lead to greater spread of disease and illness. Additionally the cost to hospitals having a surgical team assembled but unable to proceed with an operation because they lack an anaesthetic nurse is greater than the cost of the nurse.

Lena Renberg, a business manager at healthcare staffing firm Rent A Nurse, commented: “Recruitment companies can motivate more nurses to stay in the profession longer because they can offer more flexible services that are customised to the individual nurse’s likes and preferences.”