New data released by NHS England reveals the NHS is being forced to pay private firms nearly £1 billion per year. According to information shared by Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting, the government has forked out a massive £4.3 billion on agency nursing staff in just the last five years.
In a tweet, Mr Streeting said, “taxpayers are paying the price for the Conservatives’ failure to train enough nurses over the past 12 years”.
The news comes as the number of vacancies in the profession soar, hitting a recording-breaking 47,000 unfilled posts across the NHS in England earlier this year.
Full story in Nursing Notes, 20 October 2022