In a letter to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matthew Hancock, the Recruitment and Employment Confederation has issued caution over the NHS’s ability to maintain high quality care at affordable prices. 

REC Chief Executive Neil Carberry said that if the frameworks that the NHS uses to procure temporary staff remain focused only on buying the cheapest option, quality of care may suffer.

According to the REC, firms with high standards are increasingly finding they can’t afford to work with the health service. Agencies leaving the market would mean staff shortages that will cost more to fill through high cost, emergency routes.

Pointing to the high level of cost savings that agencies have already delivered for the health service, Carberry said, “Increasingly, agency providers deliver at rates below those of NHS banks” adding that, “fees paid to agencies have come down substantially as we reach the fourth year of caps.”

According to the REC, delivering high standards of patient care at good value is at the heart of what NHS staffing firms do. But there comes a point where firms simply cannot supply at the prices offered, leading to market exit.

In the letter, the REC points out that where government enforces unrealistic frameworks it creates instability and an unsustainable market.

“This always ends up leading to higher costs for the taxpayer in the long term,” the REC stated.

The letter reads, “Government learned from the Carillion collapse what happens when unsustainable contracts are forced through by public procurement – only firms willing to take uneconomic business remain. Some recent procurements are pitched at levels that are likely to drive firms to exit NHS on-framework supply, increasing the reliance on off-framework and loading contracts onto a few providers.”

REC states that this could have especially serious consequences in the run up to “high demand” winter months.

The REC have asked the Secretary of State to engage with NHS staffing partners and its health and social care sector members to find a solution which means the NHS can “achieve great value, delivering high standards of patient care and avoiding gaps in service or very high cost emergency options.”

For the full letter from the REC, click here.