Liver transplant operations in Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust have been cancelled due to a shortage of staff while Leeds states that the Government-imposed agency clampdown is having an impact and that it has continued to breach the cap in order to keep safe staffing levels, reports the Telegraph.

The cap on spending for NHS agency staff came into effect in November.

The Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust was forced to close two critical care units at Leeds General Infirmary and St James’ University Hospital due to being unable to find nurses.

The news came to light after the Health Service Journal (HSJ) was given access to leaked documents and emails.

The NHS trust declined the offer of six livers for patients due to a lack of capacity. In two more cases, the trust accepted the organs for patients but then had to decline them once it became clear there were other demands on the beds.

Furthermore, a hospital was also forced to close an A&E department due to staff shortage.

Trusts had been paying as much as paid as much as £3,500 a day for doctors to plug shifts, and up to £2,200 for nurses, with large chunks taken by the agencies who supplied the workers.

The trust said: “In two instances we have had to tell patients brought into the hospital expecting a liver transplant that their procedure could not take place because of a lack of an ICU bed. We sincerely regret this was necessary but it was the right thing to do in the interests of patient safety.”

Recently, the REC (Recruitment and Employment Confederation) stated that NHS agency caps risk patient safety and understaffing.