Agency Nurses Overpaid on New Year’s Eve

10/10/2007

New Year’s Eve is often a lucrative night for employees to work, with many employers in the catering and bar industries paying their staff double time, triple time and bonuses in exchange for forsaking the opportunity to join in the merriment.

Surprising as it may seem, however, temporary nursing is one of the best professions to be in for large New Year’s Eve bonuses. New figures obtained from a Freedom of Information request among 138 hospital trusts show that nursing agencies earned more than £1bn a year with one nurse earning almost £1,000 for a single shift on New Year’s Eve last year. North Devon District Hospital in Barnstaple recruited a specialist paediatric nurse at £115.65 an hour. It paid £983 for an eight-and-a-half hour New Year’s Eve shift.

Unfortunately for the nurses, however, much of the excess money lines the pockets of their agency bosses. Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said last night: "This data confirms the financial folly of employing agency staff rather than permanent staff.

"This strategy always looks like it will save money but actually ends up costing more. Hospitals should be more careful with patients' money so there are enough funds for life-saving treatments, many of which are currently restricted on the NHS."

According to the Royal College of Nursing, financial problems last year in many trusts meant more than 20,000 nursing jobs were cut. More than 8,000 demoralised nurses have registered with the RCN to work abroad, meaning that hospital trusts often have to rely on – and pay dearly for – agency staff at busy times like New Year’s Eve.