Aontú Newry rep and Nurse, Sharon Loughran has revealed that in total, the Health service paid £718,706,010 to banking and agency nurses during the pandemic from the beginning of restrictions until June 2023.
Ms Loughran:
“Since the pandemic when huge pressure was placed on the health service across the North until June of this year, the health service has paid huge sums to bank and agency nurses – £718,706,010 or around 11% of the total budget for health in the region for one year.
This is a shocking revelation and lays bare the imperative to invest in and retain nursing staff. The huge number of agency staff being utilised across the HSC is largely due to the level of pay for our staff, and the reality that many of our dedicated staff are being forced to supplement their income with agency hours.
There has been no increase in pay for nurses, and an unwillingness for extra payments to be approved, leaving staff demoralised with little incentive for retention. As a nurse myself, I have seen the impact less pay and added pressure is having on my colleagues.
What this means for patients is a lack of continuity and increasingly depersonalised care for patients. Retention of our highly trained nursing staff must be high on the priority list of HSC executives and any future Executive.
Between March 2020 and June 2023 some Trusts have spent over £20m on agency staff. The Southern Trust spent over £50m between March 2020 and February 2022 on agency staff at the height of the pandemic.
Aontú will continue to highlight and bring pressure to bear on the running of our public services where deficiencies are clear and improvement is essential.”
ENDS
CLANRYE NEWS 