A recent article from the Daily Mail reports that the NHS will be banned from hiring agency workers under plans backed by Wes Streeting, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care of the UK.

Following the publication of the article, the Recruitment and Employment Confederation’s Deputy CEO Kate Shoesmith said in a LinkedIn post today, “For Recruitment & Employment Confederation members in healthcare, we’ve seen the reports in the Daily Mail today about what the Health Secretary may or may not announce at Wednesday’s NHS Providers conference and the use of agency staff in entry-level roles.”

“We are contacting government to establish the validity of this with urgency,” Shoesmith added.

The Daily Mail article stated that the Health Secretary wants to stop hospitals spending ‘eye-watering sums’ on temporary staff to plug shortages of nurses and doctors.

Under the plans, NHS Trusts could be banned from using agency staff for entry-level jobs such as healthcare assistants and domestic support workers.  Firms could also reportedly be banned from putting forward staff who have recently left permanent jobs within the NHS.

The publication said the plans will be put out for consultation by NHS England in the coming weeks.

Streeting told The Mail on Sunday, “For too long, desperate hospitals have been forced to pay eye-watering sums on temporary staff, costing the taxpayer billions, and pulling experienced staff out of the NHS. We’re not going to let the NHS get ripped off any more.”

Streeting is expected to announce a series of reforms at a meeting with healthcare leaders in Liverpool on Wednesday.

SIA contacted the office of Streeting for comment.