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Nursing union slams ‘false economy’ of hiring agency nurses

THE NHS is spending almost three times as much to recruit agency nurses from overseas as it would take to meet the pay rise being called for by a nursing union.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN), which is balloting more than 300,000 nurses on strike action over pay, exposed the “false economy” yesterday of using costly overseas recruitment to plug gaps in NHS staffing.

Nurses are seeking a pay rise of inflation plus 5 per cent.

The RCN says that its new analysis, carried out by the London School of Economics, “exposes the government’s flawed policy of relying heavily on recruiting nursing staff from overseas and agencies, and letting undervalued, experienced staff quit the profession.”

It says that almost half (48 per cent) of new nursing staff are internationally recruited using costly agencies.

Costs incurred in recruiting nursing staff from abroad include recruitment agency fees, visa applications, travel, accommodation and examination fees, the union said.

And it highlighted that agency staff are paid a premium because they come via a recruitment agency.

The NHS has 47,000 nurse vacancies with thousands more driven out of the NHS every year by low pay and overwork.

RCN general secretary and chief executive Pat Cullen said: “It is a false economy to let experienced staff walk away over poor pay and conditions only to spend more recruiting internationally.

“Our NHS is built on the shoulders of our international colleagues and agency nurses play a vital role in patient care, but the government must strengthen the domestic workforce and ensure we have long-term, sustainable solutions for the health and care crisis.”

She warned that “demoralised and undervalued” nurses are “leaving in droves.”

The Department for Health and Social Care has been contacted for comment.

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