THE AMOUNT spent by the Health Service Executive on agency staff rose to almost €200 million last year. Figures provided by the executive to The Irish Timesshow that while millions were spent on hiring agency nurses and doctors last year, some €8.2 million was spent on hiring staff to cover for those in management and administration grades.
The highest level of spending on agency staff last year was on nurses, for which the bill came to €76.7 million. A further €46.4 million was spent on cover for doctors and dentists, while €46.3 million was spent on support services such as porters.
More than €20 million was also spent on agency cover for health and social care professionals, including social workers, physiotherapists and speech and language therapists.
The total spend on agency staff by the HSE last year was €199 million.
While figures provided by the HSE in response to a parliamentary question last October indicated it spent €92 million on agency staff in 2009, the executive said yesterday the amounts in that reply referred only to agency staff employed in hospitals.
“The 2010 figure contains not only the hospitals but also community-based services and all the HSE-funded agencies including the agencies in the physical and intellectual disability services. The figures are therefore not comparable,” it said.
It did not say what the comparable figure for 2009 was, but it is understood to be less than the total for last year.
However, the HSE said its spending on agency cover for those in management and administration grades in 2010 was 40 per cent less than in 2009 “as the HSE continues to reduce its dependency on professional services supplied under this category”.
The recruitment ban is considered to be the key factor in driving up spending on agency staff. The moratorium is expected to save the HSE a total of €93 million this year.
Last year before he was appointed minister for health, James Reilly said agency staff cost hospitals 36 per cent more than directly employing workers and that millions of euro could be saved by tackling the issue.
Also last year, Prof Arnie Hill, a surgeon at Beaumont Hospital and a member of the expert group on resource allocation and financing in the health sector, said the single best way to save money was to put an immediate ban on the use of agencies for recruiting staff.
He said if a senior house officer (a grade of junior doctor) rang in sick, his hospital would have to pay €2,000 a day for an agency doctor. “It’s insane . . . it’s criminal,” he said.
Earlier this year, in an attempt to cut spending on agency workers by some €33 million in 2011, the HSE agreed to accept only agency staff from a small number of companies which had cut their rates of pay.
However, the amount it has spent on agency staff as a result of ongoing shortages continued to rise in the first few months of this year.
Agency doctors, nurses, care assistants and porters cost the HSE €48 million in the first quarter of 2011, which is higher than over the same period last year.