The ability of recruitment agencies to find nurses and doctors to fill gaps in hospital shifts has worsened since the introduction of hourly pay caps, it has been claimed.
A survey by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, revealed 80% of 97 agencies that responded said they could only supply staff for up to half of the requests made by the NHS in January.
This compared with 53% out of 61 agencies last June, before the introduction of the hourly caps in November and suggesting agencies are struggling to persuade workers to take on shifts because of lower rates of pay.
The REC said demand for staff had stayed broadly the same – 33% of agencies received more than 100 requests per week on average in June, compared with 35% in January.
However, the regulator Monitor said that 64% of trusts had told it that it was no more difficult to fill a shift following the introduction of the caps. It also confirmed that 36% of trusts had said it was more difficult to fill shifts…
Read full article in Nursing Times.