Cap on agency staff pay for NHS trusts

NHS trusts in England have been subjected to a cap on the amount of money they can pay agency staff. The cap, which came into effect last week, was opposed by the BMA, which warned it could have an impact on the supply of staff, including locum doctors, and the quality of services and patient safety. The rules apply to all NHS trusts apart from ambulance trusts, but not to staff directly employed by trusts or bank staff who work additional hours to fill rota gaps at either their own trust or others in a network. GPs are also excluded unless they work directly for a trust.  In its response to the consultation by Monitor and the NHS Trust Development Authority in November, the BMA says: ‘We have serious concerns about the impact that the caps will have in geographic areas and specialties where recruitment and retention is an ongoing problem, and in trusts with reputational challenges’. The cap is being phased in with reductions from 100 to 150 per cent above the basic hourly rate from 23 November to 55 per cent above the basic rate from April 2016. The BMA’s response says: ‘We urge consideration of the underlying causes driving doctors to agency work and encourage the use of alternative interventions such as improving working conditions and pay rates, better rota management and flexible shift patterns to help bring down agency costs.’     The story so far Government plans to cap NHS agency s...
Source: BMA News - Category: UK Health Source Type: news