NHS Trusts in England have spent a total of €3.2 billion on agency staff between 2020 and 2022, according to findings from a Freedom of Information (FOI) request analysed by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).

According to the RCN analysis, three-quarters of nursing vacancies in the NHS in England could be filled if the money had been redirected to hiring permanent staff. Cash spent on agencies could cover the salaries of 30,956 permanent full-time equivalent nurses paid at the top of a Band 5 salary (£34,581).

The RCN said the recruitment crisis in the NHS is forcing hospitals to spend vast sums on agency staff as services run under the strain of more than 40,000 vacant nursing posts.

Findings also found that the money spent on agencies could have trained over 86,000 new nurses. Research by London Economics for the RCN estimates the cost of training a nurse is £37,287.

Meanwhile, the RCN noted that every year trusts are spending more on agency staff, and the findings demonstrate costs spiralling by 63% from £800 million in 2020 to £1.3 billion in 2022.

Figures showed that costs were highest in London, where hospitals spent £630 million on agency staff, while in the North of England, hospitals paid out £109 million for staff working temporary shifts across the three years.

RCN Chief Nurse Professor Nicola Ranger said, “Ministers have got their priorities wrong, forcing trusts to spend billions on agency staff while they provide miserly funding for fair pay and nurse education.”

While vast sums are being spent to plug holes in rotas in the short term, the RCN is asking how the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan will be funded.

The RCN said in order to grow the profession, the government needs to demonstrate it is committed to making nursing more attractive, starting with fair pay.

It is also calling on the government to abolish tuition fees for prospective nursing students and provide loan forgiveness for those who have already paid for their education.

Ranger continued, “With cuts to nurse education and maintaining unfair pay levels, ministers are choosing to spend the money on much higher private agency bills instead. This is yet another false economy when it comes to NHS spending.”

“This should act as a wake-up call. The government must give nursing staff and patients the investment and respect they deserve. Not acting now will mean even more patients on waiting lists and the crisis in the nursing workforce deepening further,” Ranger added.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman told the BBC that the figures were during the Covid-19 pandemic when ‘staff sickness rates were exceptionally high’ and 50,000 extra nurses have been recruited.

A spokeswoman said, "While temporary staffing allows the NHS to meet fluctuations in demand, we are controlling spending by capping hourly pay and prioritising NHS staff when shifts need filling."

Not all NHS trusts provided a response to the Freedom of Information request.